


Sweet Venom

by MariTheGhost



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 56,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27242086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariTheGhost/pseuds/MariTheGhost
Summary: The classic high school Vampire Gerard Way x Reader.Being best friend's with Mikey makes for a wonderfully awkward friendship. You, he and Gerard used to be inseparable. But back in 9th grade Gerard stopped talking to you and things got awkward. It's now senior year and it just feels like things are going to be different.Will keeping a secret from your best friend about his brother ruin your friendship?Will you find a new friend along the way?Will you ever get to kick that total bastard vampire from the first two paragraphs of this story in the ass?I hope so!Updates once or twice a week. Friday's for sure.Depends how far I get writing.Warnings: Language-the f word, they are teens what can I say?Blood? I mean it is a vampire fic.*note if you see this on Wattpad or tumblr, its still me. I got lots of accounts
Relationships: Gerard Way x Reader, Gerard Way/Reader, Gerard Way/You
Comments: 97
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In case you are wondering before we start, this will most likely end up being around 40 chapters long. Get ready for the slow burn.

“Just think happy thoughts” I mumbled as I held my hand to my bleeding neck.

“Happy thoughts aren’t going to stop me” the voice rang out around me “neither is your little boyfriend” Boyfriend? I pull a face thinking of Gerard as my boyfriend. If only but also… what an interesting time that would be considering he currently hates me. Let’s go back a bit and figure out why exactly I’m stuck in my favorite abandoned building being hunted by an asshole vampire, who if I had the opportunity I would love to shove a stake up their ass.

2 months ago~

  
I’m just your average high school senior living a relatively chill life. I’ve got semi absent parents which makes my life near fanfiction worthy, ya know. I’ve got enough freedom living in the town of Belleville that I don’t need to let my parents know everything about everything like who I’m with and where I am, as long as it sounds safe or I just lie. Being an only child makes it so easy to lie, well at least I learned to lie very well.

  
Anyway! It's senior year right! Gonna be the best time of my high school career right? I mean my best friend Mikey is in a few of my classes despite him being a grade below me, he’s smart okay. I’m not dumb, he’s just smart. We hang out a ton which is the best! We also work on dumb lyrics together and I’m trying to get him to sing but he refuses and says its not his thing. Which is crazy cause his voice isn’t even bad. But he always says that his brother is way better at it. Mikey likes to think his brother and I would get along great because we’ve got tons of common interests but… he hates me?

  
I have zero clue as to why, it’s just been like that the last few years. Gerard’s never really talked to me anyway but we at least used to hang out together when I was over and like in class. Now even when we have classes together he doesn’t even try to talk to me. I have no idea what happened! But freshman year rolled around and suddenly Gerard isn’t talking to me as much and we just lose our friendship? It's shitty. Not only cause I’m best friends with his brother and at his house a lot but… yeah actually that's it. It makes things awkward but like I guess I gotta live with that. And knowing I will never know why he stopped talking to me. Maybe it’s cause Mikey had a crush on me at some point but that went away when we realized we are way too much like siblings to each other.

  
I’m not really friends with Gerard’s friends. Like Frankie is cool and I mean Ray and I are friends because Ray usually has classes with me. But our friendship got better once he and Mikey became friends too, so we all hang out. I don’t really talk to Bert or the others Gerard sometimes talks to. Gerard usually just sticks to Frank, Ray and Mikey anyways.

  
If I’m not hanging with Mikey I usually hang out with my friends Patrick, Pete, and my other best friend Kristin that Mikey has a huge crush on. They would be so cute if they got together! But Mikey is shy and Kristin just out right refuses to make the first move, the tension is so thick you need a chainsaw to cut that. It's so frustrating.  
Well that’s my friends and my situation so far but now it's time to actually start senior year and honestly this recap of my life so far as I lay in bed waiting for my alarm to go off was really nice. I hate waking up before my alarm, it's like bitch I could’ve slept in more but noooooo my body just had to betray me. I looked to the clock, honestly five minutes before my alarm is whatever so I guess it's time to get ready. Glad I took those last 10 minutes to think about my life and my friends.  
Getting up for school is such a hassle, I wish summer didn’t end but like, I guess I’m excited for school too. Mostly my friends and my electives, and the fact that seniors only have to take english, gov/econ, and math. The rest are all mine.

  
I went through my closet and picked something cute and punk. I consider myself a punk just because I don’t care too much what people think of me and I’m going to be true to myself even if that offends people. But also my music and style choices make me look pretty punk. I picked out my fav blue plaid bottoms (skirt or pants or shorts it's your look) and a plain baseball tee that I tucked into them. Then went and put some makeup on just like I like. Once that was done it was time for hair which I decided could wait cause food is more important so I head downstairs in search for the food.

  
The kitchen is usually empty but my mom was there today making eggs.

  
“Any for me?” I asked as I went to the fridge for juice.

  
“Yup,” she said nodding, “Figured you should get breakfast on your last first day of high school.”

  
“How sentimental,” I said, giving her a side hug and mumbling a good morning. I then set the table for two seeing as Dad was already gone. We ate in peace and chatted about what I felt like school was going to be this year. If I’m being honest, it will probably be the same as always. Me and the boys (and Kristin) being nerds and having a grand ole time ignoring everyone else.

  
7:40 rolled around and I said bye to my mom so that I could jump in the Way’s car for a ride to school just like we have done for the past 6 years. Since they only live around the street from me, carpooling is always something we’ve done.

  
“You ready for the first day of the end?” I asked Mikey as I hopped into the back seat. Mikey was always shotgun since Gerard was now the driver. He got his license two years ago, so no more fun convos with Mrs. Way. Now it is just awkward looks and minimal words from the driver.

  
“That’s such a shitty way to say that this is your last year in highschool.” He said back, turning in his seat trying to smack me but not reaching me in the slightest.

  
I chuckled, “That's how it feels Mikes.”

  
“Yeah, well shut up.” He said. Mikey and I had a nice talk last Saturday at the Last Summer Sleepover Before School. He’s obviously feeling weird and kind of left out now that his brother and his best friends are graduating this year. Mikey is going to be without me next year, and without Gerard, for the first time in a decade. It’s honestly kind of scary. I don’t blame him for being snappy at the subject.

  
We rode to the school in comfortable silence with Gerard’s music playing over the speakers, it was some chill summer music. Which is a nice-ish way to start the day. Arriving at the school parking lot it really does feel different this time. Last time the three of us start together. We get out of the car and start heading towards the school when I’m suddenly grabbed from behind.

  
“What is up nerds?!” Patrick’s voice rings out next to my ear. We all laugh.

  
“Just going to hell for another year, what’s up with you?” Mikey says. Patrick moves so his arm is thrown over my shoulder instead.

  
“Waiting for Pete and whoever else I can find before walking into Hell.” Patrick says and I nod in agreement.

  
“Sounds reasonable. No one wants to go to hell alone,” I say.

  
“Did someone say my name earlier?” Pete says walking up to us. Gerard is just hanging with us looking around for Frank and Ray.

  
“Ayy! What's up dick face?” Patrick says pointing at Pete.

  
“Nothin much ‘Trick.” Pete responds. “Who else we waiting for before heading in?” He says looking around.

  
“Other than Kristin, Joe and Andy?” I ask, raising my eyebrow at him.

  
“Uhh yeah.” He says before starting to talk to Mikey about his summer and what classes he has. I chat with Patrick as we wait a few minutes for Ray and Frank to join us all.

  
“Who’s ready for another year of the fuckin’ shit show that is called school?” Frank says walking up to us with Ray and Kristin. They have been carpooling for school together since last year because they all live pretty close together. We all laugh and joke about school sucking but I know we are all excited for our electives. Since we are seniors and juniors we all have more electives now, us seniors get three while the juniors get two. It's so nice that the school actually lets us pick some fun classes to do.

  
After a while we realize it's 10 minutes before the bell rings and we should probably head into the building now.

  
“Who’s going to step in first?” Patrick asks. I’m sure people look at each other but everything feels different today. It’s time to just get this year started.  
I step away from them not realizing that Gerard has too and we walk up the few steps together wordlessly before pausing in front of the doors for a moment. I breathe in deeply and make my way into the building through the giant double doors with Gerard by my side and our friends right behind us. This year is going to be a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to figure out formatting on here, I swear. The Wattpad one is so much easier T.T


	2. And so it Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can skip this! Its not super necessary just telling you the setting and showing you what Gerard looks like that I'm using! And mentioning how this is gonna be a long story....
> 
> Figured I should let you guys know this is kind of modern times.
> 
> Smartphones exist and are used, some bands from now may or may not be listened too as well.
> 
> I have a very specific Gerard in mind when writing. He's a soft boy, I can't help it. He's got the black hair. It is definitely around Bullets and Three Cheers Gee. If you want to imagine him different go right ahead! Just ignore what ever pictures I add. I'll post one here so you get an idea.
> 
> This will be a super long story. I have a lot planned out, (I accidentally already wrote the main conflict, fight and a bit of the eventual kiss scene). But that stuff it towards the end! We a got a lot in the middle to go through. AKA two months worth! That means lots of crush time and awkward and.. suspense.
> 
> This will be a nice slow burn that will put twilight to fucking shame. (JK that's been done before and twilight is alright, no hate)
> 
> DID YOU KNOW!!! Edward was fricken based off Gerard...... Meyer had a huge crush on him. While re-reading twilight it was super obvious and it read like a self insert x Gerard. I enjoyed it more that way. Also I already wrote like two twilight jokes. I'm not sorry. <3

[Gerard ](https://pin.it/9zJ3UwJ)

<https://pin.it/7jPHjxI>

<https://pin.it/38jPWv8>

The first three days of school went by fast which is nice. Now it's Friday which means sleepover with Mikey! It's something we’ve always done the first week of school but also because we are literally best friends and my parents don’t care enough to realize I’ve slept over his house multiple times. The Way’s mom is always really sweet and makes us leave the door open cause we’re “teenagers and teenagers are horny”. She didn’t say that to us but I already know that's what she thinks and I’m also the only girl allowed to stay the night at all at their house unless it's a group sleepover.

I got up as usual and dressed in some black bottoms today and a smashing pumpkins tee. Walking down stairs to an empty kitchen is always nice, it means I get to take my time and actually be somewhere in peace that isn’t my room. I got breakfast ready and sat at the table scrolling through my phone texting Mikey.

y/n/n: Sup loser.

Mikey: morning punk. 

u excited for tonight?!

y/n/n: OF fuckin course!! 

Watchin movies and complaining and catching up

Even though i see you all the time

Mikey: I still look forward to our yearly first week of school Shit Talk Sleepover

y/n/n: SAaaammme!

Mikey: Gotta watch some shitty hs movie this time

cause its your last first week shit talk

y/n/n: I don’t know mikes I still got college and youll be a senior

Mikey: tru

As I ready Mikey’s “tru” I finish my breakfast and then head up stairs to finish getting ready. I put on my usual makeup and brushed my teeth. My hair looks decent so I’m leaving it, no one will tell I didn’t brush it unless they run their fingers through it so whatever. As I reach the bottom of the stairs I hear a car honk outside my house. I go to the door and peek out and there’s Mikey and Gerard to pick me up. I wave and go grab my shoes and check my phone to see if Mikey said they were coming at all cause I didn’t think they'd be here. 

Mikey: we be picking u up early loser. (timestamp 5 minutes ago)

Of course the one time I don't check my phone so they have to wait a few minutes for me to tie my hightops and grab my bag. I lock the door as I close it behind me and head to the back seat of Gerard’s kind of beat up black Corolla. It's an older used car but it works for getting us all places. 

“Morning guys” I say, throwing my backpack into the back seat and stepping in.

“Morning y/n/n. You were late” Mikey said while Gerard just hummed in response to my greeting. I closed the door and off we went.

“Yeah well I didn’t see your text jerk” I said hitting Mikey’s shoulder lightly. It's too early for being rough. Mikey just laughed and we rode in silence to the school with Gerard’s playlist coming through the speakers.

~ 

The school day passed slower today than the last few. Probably because I was excited for the sleepover tonight with Mikey. I looked over at him in math and it seemed like he felt the same way. Once classes were out for the day I went to grab my stuff from my locker.

“Hey cutie” I turned to look at Patrick.

“Where’ve you been all day, jerk?” I laughed as I pushed him away from me. 

“Places…” He smirked turning to lean against the lockers. “Mostly hiding from Carry which meant I couldn't hang with you cause I knew she would look for me there.”

“Dude.” I said staring at him.

“I know, I know. I just need to find her a new boy to crush over”

“Fast,” I added, closing my locker.

“Hey guys!” I turned to see Pete and Mikey heading our way. 

I leaned over to Patrick, “I'd say point out Pete to her but that would just be cruel.” I laughed and so did he.

“What are you two idiots giggling about?” Pete said, stopping next to us.

“Nothing.” Patrick and I said together. We looked at each other and just cracked up even more. 

“Ugh” Pete groaned and turned to Mikey, “Control your bestfriend.”

“You first” Mikey responded with a smirk. 

Pete rolled his eyes, “Lets get the fuck out of here, schools been out for like 10 minutes.”

“Oh that's so long” I said sarcastically as I fixed my backpack on my shoulder.

“Shut up.” Pete said smiling as we started to head out of the hallway and make our way to the front of the school. 

“Hey Mikey how's operation Sweet Poison going?” Patrick said over my head.

“I’m working on it.” Mikey mumbled giving Patrick a glare.

“Oooooh! What's Sweet Poison?! Let me help!” I said turning to Mikey.

“You can’t help cutie, it's a secret” Patrick said next to me.

“Yuup. Only us boys get to know” Pete said. I glared at Mikey who was looking everywhere but me. _Looks like I’ve got some secrets to get out of Mikey now._ _Mikey keeping a secret from me is new and only a bit concerning._

“Alright,” I said, shrugging and turning back around, “Keep your secrets. I’ll just assume it's about your crush then.” I smirked as I walked over to the cars seeing Gerard leaning on the hood of his car talking to Frank and Ray.

“Do not,” Mikey rushed up behind me.

“Yeah it's actually not concerning Mikey’s crush for once. Plus isn't that one called operation Heart Eyes?” Patrick said.

“Oh yeah!” Pete nearly shouted, “Fuckin forgot about that. Gotta get moving on plans for that.” Mikey’s face was turning red, _which is ahh sweet revenge for keeping me out of the loop._

“Hey guys” Ray said, waving as we got to Gerard’s car.

“Sup Toro-saurus” I smiled at him as he pulled me into a side hug laughing at my usual greeting. 

“So any plans for tonight?” Pete asked the group.

Frank and Ray had a consensual nope and Gerard said sort of. _But question? How do you sort of have plans? That's so weird but no one questions it._ Patrick says how his only plan is to come up with a plan to get rid of his ex-girlfriend Carry. We all laughed at him but also gave sympathy cause who knew she was the obsessive type? 

“Y/n and I are having our annual first week of school shit talk sleepover” Mikey said.

“We are going to roast all of you behind your backs” I added with a smirk.

“Thats so fuckin rude” Pete said knocking his shoulder against me chuckling. The others laughed lightly too. We chatted for a little while longer before everyone was sick of being on campus and there was almost no line of cars trying to leave the campus. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. 

“You guys can drop me off at my house and I’ll walk over later. I gotta pack for tonight and make sure my parents remembered.” I said as we drove back to our houses. Thankfully Mikey only lives like a five minute walk from my house so I never feel weird walking there even at night. 

“Okay” Mikey said. Gerard just hums and continues to drive. He never talks to me much. _I literally have no clue what happened to make him not like me. We have been in the same grade since like 6th grade, I mean he’s older than me cause he got held back in like elementary school but Mikey and I are 90% sure its cause he didn’t want to leave Mikey behind. Which is actually really sweet. But Still! Why the hate? Or dislike. Whatever it is, it kind of makes me sad because we probably could be awesome friends like Mikey says. One day I’m going to figure it out. Or like ask Mikey what the fuck is up. But its not at the top of the to do list just yet. I’m fine with the awkward ignoring for now. Well I mean… for the past 3 years. This will be 4 if things don’t change._

We pull up to my house and I thank them both for the ride, “What time am I coming over Mikes?” I say before closing the door.

“Uuhhhhh idk 7?” Mikey said looking over his shoulder at me.

“Did you just say idk out loud?” I ask him, chuckling with a smirk.

“Shut up. See you later bye.” Mikey says turning around. I laugh and say bye again then close the car door. I walk up the steps, unlock the door and turn around and wave at the boys goodbye to signal I am safe and can get in my home. They always wait to make sure I’m safe, Mikey is a good friend. As I step in I drop my backpack on the table by the door and kick my shoes off before heading to the kitchen to get a snack. I plop down in a chair as I eat some dried fruit and sip at my water while sending a text to my mom telling her I was having a sleepover tonight. 

Mom: Okay. Be safe. Love you.

Y/N: I will. Love you too.

I put my phone down to finish my snack and think about what movie I wanted to make Mikey watch tonight. _Maybe Carrie, I mean it's fitting since Patrick was talking about his ex Carry. Or maybe Mean Girls cause it's a classic. Maybe even High School Musical just to fuck with Mikey. We shall see._ I smirk to myself thinking of how mean I’m feeling like being to Mikey. _I mean he is keeping a secret from me soo_.

Once my snack is done I head upstairs to change into more comfy clothes for the day. But I kinda realize I should shower first cause school is fricken gross. So I grab a pair of black leggings and a baseball tee cause uhh no one needs to see my butt thanks, even if it is just Mikey and Gerard. I spend probably too long in the shower singing and just enjoying the heat but it's not like I don’t have the time. After I get out I brush out my wet hair and throw it back up in a dry towel to help get more moisture out. (real tip right there, double towel dry) I pull on my clothes and head out of the bathroom back to my room. I grab a bag from my closet for sleepovers and pack some pjs, an oversized New Jersey Devils shirt and a pair of shorts along with a pair of pants cause sometimes Mikey’s room is a fricken ice box. Then I grab some shorts and a shirt for the next day just in case we decide to get dressed and go somewhere. 

After I finish packing I head back to the now aired out bathroom to dry my hair and put some much needed moisturizer on my face. No makeup cause it's Mikey and we’ve seen the worst of each other in the past that I don’t ever feel pressured to wear makeup around him. Plus my skin has been looking nice lately. I head back to my room and throw myself onto my bed. The clock next to me reads 4:15, I’ve got enough time to try and take a nap so I can stay awake later tonight. I set an alarm on my phone for 6:15 since I know I might just end up watching tv or playing on my phone but I need to make sure to eat a snack because pizza probably won't happen till 8. I lay down, put on some calming music before setting my phone down and closing my eyes for a bit. 

~

The sound of chimes wake me up. _Where the heck am I? What time is it?_ I look around and realize I’m still in my room. _Damn I actually fell asleep, who knew I could nap?_ I turn off my alarm and slowly pull myself up out of bed. I rub my eyes and grab my bag and some socks to bring down stairs with me so I don’t have to come back up after my snack. I walk down the stairs to a semi dark house. The sun is going down and neither of my parents are home. _Cool._ I turn the porch light on and drop my bag and socks off at the front door before heading to the kitchen for some snackage. 

y/n/n: we still good for 7??

I text Mikey to double check. Sometimes he forgets when we are supposed to hang out and goes to do something before realizing he’s now late for our hang out. I grab a pb and j sandwich from the fridge and sit on my phone for a bit as I chill down stairs. I check the time after my second pb and j… _they are so good I can’t just have one!_ It’s 6:50 which means I’m allowed to go over and bother Mikey early. I check my phone and still no reply so I send a quick text letting him know that I’m on my way. 

Grabbing my socks and shoes I sit on the floor by my bag taking my time just in case Mikey says not to go over yet. Once my black vans are on I stand up grabbing my bag and keys and checking my phone one more time. It's 6:53 and still no response so I’m heading over anyway so I can bug him. I head out my door, locking it behind me and taking a shortcut through my grass to the side walk. It's only a five minute walk and the sun is setting so it's still nicely lit, plus our neighbors usually stay inside at this time cause it's like family dinner time. I head to the Way house and check my phone at least three more times but still nothing. _What a bitch_ . I think at Mikey, if only telepathy worked with us. Coming up on the Way residence I see the down stairs lights on but Mikey’s light isn’t on in his room. _He better be downstairs and not out of the house right now_. 

I knock on the door but there is no answer which means Mikey isn’t downstairs or he has headphones on again. I use my spare key, _Thank you Mrs. Way_ , and open the front door.

“Honey I’m home” I say sarcastically as I close the door. Still nothing. I peek around into the living room and no one is there. Odd cause the lights are on. The Way parents are out at dinner at the moment with some clients or something is what Mikey told me during Music Theory today. Next I head to the kitchen but still nothing. I head over to the staircase to go find Mikey upstairs.

_CRASH_

I jump at the sudden sound nearly dropping my phone, my heart racing and I have to take a moment tocatch my breath. I look toward the basement door that leads to Gerards room. _I hope he’s alright_ . I look back up the stairs and the nonexistent light of Mikey’s bedroom. _Mikey’s light wasn’t on, maybe he’s with Gerard in the basement and they are just messing around._ I leave my bag at the bottom of the stairs and kick my shoes off too before heading to the basement door. _Why are basements always so creepy? Or is it cause no one is up here that it makes it worse than usual_. I’ve been in Gerard’s room before but only to borrow comics and Mikey took me down there. I open the door and listen for a moment before doing anything. There’s just silence and if I didn’t know this house as good as my own I would be feeling way more scared but I still feel like I’m in a horror movie right now. I open my phone up and dial 911 just in case I’m about to be fucking murdered in my best friends basement. 

The lights are on down there which is better than anything else so I start to head down the stairs slowly. As I make it down the stairs I scan the room for the boys hoping they are just fucking with me and are trying to scare me. Reaching the bottom step I look around and notice a person laying on the floor by the open window. 

“Oh shit! Gerard?!” I ran over to him once I recognized his black greasy hair. He’s slumped on his side and groans as I approach him. “Are you okay?” I reach out and grab his shoulder turning him to lay on his back so I can see his face better. I suck in a breath as I notice blood dripping down his chin and also the dark stain at the top of his blue sweatshirt which is probably more blood. 

“Oh fuck!” I jump up and run to his bathroom grabbing a towel and running back crashing down next to him to stop the bleeding wherever the hell it's coming from as fast as I can. I press the towel gently to his face to try and wipe away some blood when his eyes snap open. _Oh shit_. In an instant I’m on my back, wind knocked out of me and towel still in my left hand with Gerard pinning my arms to the side of me while hovering over me with red eyes. 


	3. Bite Me

I suck in a breath as I stare at Gerard’s red eyes, I try not to panic more but I can feel the tears burning the edges of my eyes. Gerard leans down lower with the blood dripping off his chin and on the white of my baseball tee.

“Don’t you smell good, gorgeous?” he says pressing his nose against my throat. I can feel a tear slip down as I try and stay still as best I can but I know I’m shaking under him.

“G-gerard” I try hoping he’ll snap out of it but he just hums and moves his face down to the base of my throat. I can’t help but swallow and clench my fists. _I’m going to die aren’t I._ “Gerard” I try again a little louder, trying to move my legs against his and shift my shoulders slightly. He tenses up on me and snaps his face up to look at me. _Weird his eyes are hazel. I thought they were red just now_. 

“Y/n?” He looks scared and confused. “Oh fuck!” realization seems to hit and in the next moment he’s off me and gone. I suck in a breath to calm myself down. _What the Fuck just happened?!_ I close my eyes and try to breathe slowly through my nose to calm myself down before sitting up. I lean forward with my face in my hands over my legs and breathe for a few moments as I try to comprehend what the fuck just happened.

_Okay. So Gerard fell through his window I guess. And there was blood on his shirt and his face. Then his eyes were red and he basically topped me in a not fun way and scared the shit out of me. Then he just changed and like snapped out of it? What the fuck._

I drop my hands and look around the room but Gerard is nowhere in sight. _Heck._ I stand up and grab the towel off the floor. Looking around again I notice the bathroom door is closed so I head straight to it. I don’t want to scare Gerard so I walk softly on the hard floor in front of the door before whispering his name. But I get no answer. 

“Hey… Gerard?” I say quietly hoping he’ll answer. But nothing. _Great_ . I reach out for the handle but the door flies open before I could reach it. Gerard stands there in front of me with just a tank top on and his boxers. “Uhh” I look away fast and feel wind move my hair before the bathroom door shuts again. _Well this is awkward more than usual. Awesome._ I look at the stained white towel in my hands, _I wasn’t even able to wipe away much blood before he jumped me._ The bathroom door opens again and I can see Gerard has pants on now so I look up at him.

“Shit there’s blood on your shirt” he walks past me into his room in a rush. _Wow the first thing he says after scaring the crap out of me is that I have blood on my shirt?? Fuck off Gee._ “Take your shirt off.”

“Excuse me?” I say loudly.

“Off now please,” Gerard says sternly holding a sweatshirt out to me and looking away. I grudgingly grab it from him. 

“Fine.” I turn away and take it off, dropping it to the floor on top of the towel and pulling his maroon sweatshirt on. _What is up with him. The first real conversation we have in a while and he’s being an ass._ As I turn around Gerard grabs the towel and shirt off the floor and his clothes from the bathroom then heads to the washer behind the stairs. 

“Are you going to tell me what the fuck just happened?” I say crossing my arms. Gerard stiffens up with his hand hovering the on button for the washer. _Could I have said that better yeah but uhhhhh Gerard you literally are being so cryptic right now._ I wait as he turns the washer on and breathes in deeply.

“I’m so sorry.” He says with his hands on the washer and head hanging down. I look down and sigh before walking over to him.

“Gerard. What happened?” I look up at him as softly as I can manage after being scared shitless by him and him being an ass to me. 

He looks over to me with fear and sadness in his hazel hues, “You can’t tell Mikey.” 


	4. Trust Me

We walked over to the couch he has down in the basement and sat at opposite ends, and I waited for him to talk.

Gerard sighs and puts his head in his hands while I sit curled up in the other corner just watching him.

“Okay.” He sits up and turns slightly towards me, “Don’t freak out.”

“You already scared the crap out of me Gerard. So it's too late for that.” I pull my legs closer to myself to get comfy. Gerard looks away and seems to think for a moment.

“Alright,” he pauses before turning back to me, “I’m a vampire.” I stare at him.

“You’re fucking with me,” I say as a chuckle passes my lips. _He can’t be serious._ He just looks at me though, waiting. _Why does him being a vampire actually make sense right now??! The fuck._ “Okay.” I look at him and want to shake my head because of course he is. _I’ll go with it for now, maybe something else is up. But it does kinda make sense. The fuck._

Gerard nods and looks away towards the wall where the tv is. “I went out to… hunt… before you would be coming over tonight and before Mikey gets back home.” 

“Question,” I interrupted him, earning myself a look, “where the heck is your brother. He didn’t text me back at all.”

“He’s at Pete’s for a bit to hang out.”

“Jerk, always forgets the time we set to hang out.” I grumble stretching my legs out on the couch and crossing my arms. _Vampire thing is so a cover for something._

“You… You’re more concerned about where Mikey is over the fact that I’m a vampire?” Gerard questions me exasperatedly. 

I pause for a moment because am I? _I mean I did walk around upstairs looking for him and I assumed he was messing around down here which is why I came downstairs. But is that more important than the fact Gerard literally confessed to hunting for blood? Holy shit is he really a fucking Vampire?_

“Holy fuck why did you go hunt? What did you go hunt?!” I realize just what he said earlier and my eyes go wide. Gerard just rolls his eyes at me.

“Just some animals over in the forest by park. No way in hell am I going to kill someone just to eat.” He said leaning back against the couch. 

“Huh” I say looking at him better. _I mean these past couple of months he has seemed a bit… off. More than usual._ “How did it happen?”

Gerard glanced at me with his eyes before sighing and looking away, “It was a few months ago. I was on my way home from the record store and some guy jumped me as I passed the park.”

“Wait,” I sat up more and leaned forward a bit. “You’re telling me, when we all looked for you for like 4 days back in March, you were transforming into a vampire.” I said with a bit of a crazed smile on my face. _We had all been wondering where he went when he disappeared but he refused to talk about it. This is so fucking wild. I barely believe any of what he’s telling me._

“Yeah,” He let his head fall back against the couch with his eyes closed.

“Cool,” I whispered. He turned on me in an instant.

“No! Not cool, it's a fucking curse.” He growled, leaning toward me with a wicked glare.

“S-sorry” I shrunk back against the arm of the couch putting more space between us.

Gerard looked at me in shock and leaned away as far as he could. “No, no. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. It’s just. It’s not that cool. I have to drink blood and I can’t be in the sun that long. And like. It sucks cause I can’t tell anyone about it because I could hurt them even more now than just as a human and I don’t want Mikey worrying about me.” He put his head in his hands. _Maybe Gerard isn’t mean like I thought and is just kinda stuck being tragically misunderstood cause he has no one to talk to about this. But this new, doesn’t explain the being a jerk to me before._

“You can talk to me about it,” I say quietly. Gerard looks as me like I’ve just told him I was okay with murder. I probably look shocked too. _Can he talk to me? I just said this excuses none of his being an ass. But he has no one else._ There was just silence between us for a while. _Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I mean I’m probably the last person Gerard would ever want to confide in._

“Really?” I looked up at him, his eyes holding something close to hope.

“Yeah,” I smile shyly at him. This is new ground for me. Actually being friendly with Gerard and him being nice back. _Wow_. “I mean I can’t tell Mikey, I already promised that. So why not talk to me about it?” I shrug, pulling on the long sleeves of Gerard’s sweatshirt. 

“Thank you,” he said, smiling back at me. _Eww why do I feel my stomach being all weird and tight. Definitely cause he used those teeth to kill an animal. And nearly used them on me. Those tiny teeth are now more lethal than before._ I look away.

“Sooo… you said you can go in the sun but not for long?” I ask trying to make things feel normal.

“Uh yeah. It hurts but it's like a small pain. Kind of sunburn feeling but not too bad.”

“And you’ve been eating animals?”

“Yeah, no humans for me.” he chuckled. 

“And you’re fast yeah?” he nodded. “How fast can you go?”

“I don’t know. Never really thought about testing it out.”

“Oh we definitely should test out how fast you can go.” I said laughing. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so awkward after all. 

“Yeah that would be cool,” He chuckled.

Ding! I looked over to my phone on the floor where Gerard had been laying when I first walked down stairs. _Must be Mikey finally responding_. Gerard got up and was sitting down handing me my phone in a second.

“Yeah we definitely need to test how fast you can run,” I mumbled as I took my phone. 

Mikey: Sorry I was at Petes! 

He’s taking me home now so I’ll be there in like 10 minutes!

“Your brother is on his way home,” I said texting back an ‘okay see you soon’. 

“Right,” He said. I glanced at him and he seemed a bit sad.

“Anything else you wanna talk about before he gets here?” I put my phone down in my lap. Gerard looked at me kind of like a puppy, happy to be able to talk to someone and get attention.

“Umm, I actually can’t think of anything. Do you have any ideas?” He smiled at me. _He needs to stop that now, I’m not used to a nice Gerard._

“Where did you hide out when you changed?”

“An old abandoned building downtown. I still go there sometimes.”

“Cool.”

“I’ll show it to you sometime if you like.” He said looking me in the eyes.

“Sure, I'd love to see your secret lair Batman.” I smiled, rolling my eyes, laughing lightly at him. He laughed too.

“Let’s head up stairs so Mikey doesn’t ask questions about us being alone in the basement.”

“Why cause that’s where murder happens in scary movies?” I laughed getting up but Gerard’s shoulders tensed, “Or is it cause we’re nearly the same age and are opposite genders.” I try, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Definitely the later of the two,” Gerard chuckles awkwardly as we head up the stairs.

We walked into the kitchen and I went to make some tea. _That will definitely calm me down and help my stomach_ , “Do you want any?”

“Sure.”

“So you can still eat human food then?” I ask as I get out the cups and tea bags.

“Yeah, just not a lot or all the time. It actually kind of helps depending on what it is” He said going and grabbing the phone off the counter. “What kind of pizza do you want? I’ll order now so Mikey doesn’t complain about pizza being late.”

“Just cheese,” I said, heating up the water in the microwave.

“Kay,” Gerard then placed an order from our favorite pizzeria for all our favorites and three whole pizzas. We sit and chat a bit as we wait for Mikey to finally get here. As car lights pull into the drive way I lean on my hand and notice the maroon sweatshirt I’m wearing.

“Shit what about my shirt? It's downstairs.” I said looking at Gerard slightly panicked.

“It’s fine, I doubt Mikey will notice that's my sweatshirt.”

“And if he does?” I raise an eyebrow at him cause I know his brother just as well as he does.

“Uhh we say you spilled and it's in the wash downstairs so I gave you a sweatshirt.”

“Hmm close to the truth makes it easier to remember a lie. Nice job” I say with a smile as I turn to look at the door when I hear Mikey’s key in the lock.

“Thanks,” I hear Gerard say quietly behind me as Mikey walks into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he says looking at Gerard and I sitting at the kitchen table with our tea cups. Mikey walks over to us and takes a seat.

“You jerk forgot when we were supposed to start our sleep over _again_ ” I said pushing the moment he sat down hard enough he nearly fell out of the chair.

“Shit!” Mikey caught himself just barely, “I deserved that. I’m sorry.”

“It's fine don’t do it again anytime soon bitch.” I said smiling at him.

“I’ll try not to,” He said with a half smile. “When’s pizza getting here?”

“We ordered it like five minutes ago, so probably in 20 minutes” Gerard said.

“Sweet I’m going to put on comfy clothes, I’ll be back” Mikey said and left me and Gerard in the kitchen once again. _This is fine. Mikey has his secret and now I have mine._ I sip some of my tea hiding my mischievous smile.


	5. BFFs

The pizzas arrived shortly after Mikey came back down stairs, boy takes long showers but so do I. We ate and chatted about the day and had a nice time, the three of us. I think Mikey was a bit surprised to see Gerard and I getting along so well cause usually we share very few words with each other. Plus dinners or whatever we are eating is usually a little awkward with both of us taking turns talking to Mikey and not each other. Once we all finished Mikey and I grabbed some drinks and snacks and headed upstairs to his room while Gerard headed down to the basement to… vibe I guess. But Gerard still gave me a look as Mikey and I headed up stairs, probably a please don’t tell look but it was weird.

We settle on the floor with our backs against his bed, facing towards the tv.

“So what movies are you thinking tonight Mikey? Or should we get right to the shit talking?” I laugh as I open a bottle of Coca Cola.

“Uh how about shit talk and then some movie and then more shit talking but I have a question for you first.” I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow signaling for him to go on. “When did you and Gerard get like that?”

“Uhh like what?” I ask.

“Um like being able to have an actual conversation with each other. In the past three years you two have never spoken more than a few words let alone have a whole ass conversation.”

“Okay,” I say pointing my bottle at him. “We used to talk in middle school before high school came and we just got into different things. Plus you’re my best friend. I stick to you, not him.” I say nudging him with my shoulder. 

“Okay okay,” He said smiling lightly. “It was just kind of weird seeing you two get along again. Why did you two stop talking in the first place?” 

“Who knows,” I shrug. “We just had different classes and made different friends that first year of high school. Plus if anyone were to know I feel like you would know more than me.”

“Why would I know? I think it’s cause you guys didn’t have me” Mikey smirks and I can’t help but laugh and roll my eyes.

“Sure, sure. It's totally cause you weren’t there.” I laugh. And we move on and talk about the teachers we got this year and whether we are going to need to cheat off each other in math. We talk about our separate classes and how excited we are for our electives this year. I’m taking advanced choir along with music theory for a semester which switches to teachers assistant the next, and then Mythology. While Mikey is taking Jazz band and playing the bass in it, it's not even really Jazz. The class is just really about jamming and creating music. He’s in that class with Ray and Frank and Gerard. It's a really cool class with lots of people playing different instruments, Mikey says I should have taken it and been a singer for it but that's too much pressure for me. I’m not interested in sharing my music with a bunch of high school boys. 

We talk about our friends and how great it is that we have classes together with so many of them this year. While Gerard, Ray, Pete and I will be graduating this year, it's nice to have one last year together with a bunch of classes in common. 

“Soooo…” I take a sip from my cola, “Are you going to make a move on Kristin this year or am I going to have to wait for a text while I’m at college?” I joke, pushing him.

“Stop!” He squirms away from me trying to hide the blush I know is growing on his face.

“Come on! You guys are so cute together!”

“Noo. Y/n! Stop!” He says throwing a pillow at me.

“Fine! You’re lucky operation Heart Eyes is just for me, Patrick, Pete and Ray to figure out. Cause boy if I had you involved, you would never allow any set ups at all!” I say throwing the pillow back at him.

“Ugghhhhh!” He groans holding the pillow over his face. “Why are you so mean to me?”

“It’s because I love you and I want you to be happy.” I say laying down over his legs looking up at his pillow covered face. Mikey moves the pillow away and looks down at me for a moment, before immediately shoving the pillow on my face. “Hey!”

“You’re lucky you’re my best friend or I wouldn’t tolerate your selflessness.” I barely hear through the pillow being forced on me as I struggle under his arms. He lets me go after a while and I throw the pillow against his face one last time before grabbing some oreos and deciding to pick a movie to watch.

We decided to watch High School Musical, Heathers, and Carrie. After the movies we crashed on his bed and didn’t wake up till late the next day. We spent the rest of that day hanging out before I went back home Saturday night.


	6. Alone Together

Monday school started again as usual. I wish summer was back in session. The Way brothers take me to school as usual but the car feels different today. Maybe it's because I know Gerard is a vampire. Maybe it’s because Gerard actually said good morning to me and asked me how my weekend went. Maybe it’s because Mikey seems happy that his brother and I are getting along. It just feels different.

The school day goes normally. I sit with Patrick, Pete, Andy, Joe and Kristin at lunch because Mikey is off with Gerard, Ray and Frank. He switches who he has lunch with so he can hang out with all of us. We coooouuuld all sit together. But we like to sit on the grass under a big tree while the boys like to sit at a table in the shade by the music room. Plus there isn’t enough room at their table for all of us. 

We talk music and tv shows, ignoring the topic of classes all together. I do make sure to poke at Kristin about Mikey though and she just gets all blushy and quiet. One day I’m just going to shove them in a closet and hope for the best. 

The rest of the day goes by fast and off I go with Mikey and Gerard back to the Way home to hang out with Mikey for a bit. Then it’s time to go home for dinner and I eat pasta with my parents before heading to my room to do nothing. This is pretty much always the routine. Some days I don’t hang out with Mikey after school other days I do. But at least I get family dinners a few times a week. 

~

By Wednesday I’m missing summer even more but getting used to the new routine and friendship, which I think you can kind of call it that, between Gerard and I. It's much more friendly in the car and in class which is nice. It’s still pretty awkward though. 

That night I did what little homework I had after dinner and now I’m laying on my bed listening to rain sounds through my headphones as I scroll tumblr on my phone. Suddenly I hear a tapping sound on glass. I pause the music thinking maybe there's a glitch but I hear it again. I look around my room and then over to my window where there is a pale face staring at me.

“Holy shit!” I scream falling off my bed. I look back at it and realize it's Gerard who is now giving me an ashamed and nervous look. “What the fuck Gerard!” I say.

“What’s wrong Y/n!” my dad says opening the door to my room. I look up at him from the floor.

“Uhhh,” I look back at the window but Gerard isn’t there anymore. “I thought I saw a spider in front of my face but I think it was just a fly,” I lie looking back at my dad slowly.

“Okay. Okay.” He says sighing, releasing some tension in his shoulders. “I thought you were hurt. Maybe don’t scream next time, okay?” He says looking at me.

“Okay dad.” I say still sitting on the floor. 

“Okay, good night.” He moves away, closing the door.

“Night!” I say as the door closes. As soon as it's closed I get up and scramble onto my and to my window throwing it open. “Gerard?” I whisper shout out my window looking around for him. 

“Hey!” He whispers back below my window. “Can I come up?” 

I look down at him in shock,  _ how the fuck did he make it to my window on the second fucking floor??? _ I nod at him knowing full well my face is still in shock and move away from my window. In a moment Gerard has his hands on my window sill and is pulling himself up and through my open window.

“The fuck,” I whisper watching him come into my room and tumble onto my bed. 

“Super strength,” He says turning himself around to sit on my bed better. I’m still looking at him in confusion but at least the super strength thing makes sense. Gerard settles in and leans back against the wall next to the open window. He looks over at me, and I know I’m staring back at him in confusion.  _ Why the fuck is Gerard in my room?  _

“Why are you here?” I blurt out. Gerard looks away embarrassment and hurt written across his face. “Sorry that came out wrong,” I say, adjusting how I was sitting against my headboard. “I mean, you’re in my room and we never hang out and I’m just confused right now.” I say looking down at my hands. 

“Oh uh, I wanted to hang out but I don’t have your number so I just. I just kind of showed up. Sorry.” He said looking down. 

“Oh,” I look around for my phone for a moment and grab it from off the floor before handing it to him. “Give me your number.” I say.  _ Things are definitely going to be weird between us. We used to never talk and now I’m the only one who knows his secret and the only one he can confide in. _

He looks up at me and gives a small smile before taking my phone and plugging his number in, probably sending himself a quick text too. When he hands it back I see he did just that. 

“So, you uh, wanted to hang out?” I asked putting my phone down next to me on my bed. 

“Uh, yeah! If that’s, if that’s okay with you?” He looked at me from under his lashes, almost like he was afraid of my response. When really I should be afraid of him.

“Yeah, it's fine. I mean, I’m not doing anything right now anyway.” I say shrugging and pulling my knees up to me. 

“Cool.” He said. We just kind of sat there on my bed for a while in awkward silence.  _ I mean yeah, we aren’t awkward in the car, and we actually talk a bit in our classes but we aren’t ever alone. We haven’t been alone since friday. It's been almost a week since I found out. This is awkward.  _

“Do you want to watch something?” I ask, “Or talk?”  _ I can’t take the silence any longer. It's too awkward and I’m going to explode. _

“I… Could we talk for a bit?” he says looking down at his hands. “I haven’t really talked to anyone lately, even Mikey.”

“Like in general about things, or like about being a blood sucker?” I said trying to lighten the mood. I could see a smile crack on Gerard’s face, it was small but there.

“In general. But yeah that too.” He chuckled. “Even the boys noticed I’ve been distant.” I hummed in response hoping he would keep going. He paused for a moment before looking at me with semi intense eye contact.

“This is weird. We haven’t even talked like this in years.” 

I nodded lightly, “Yeah, but I’m a good secret keeper. I promise.” 

“I know you are. I heard Mikey tell you about his drinking fiasco over the summer and made you promise not to tell anyone.” He laughed.

“Hey! I haven’t told anyone. I’d ask how you heard but I already know that answer now.” I rolled my eyes and realized I was smiling. 

“Hahaha yeah. Be careful with your secrets in my house, I’ll hear it even if you don’t want me to.” He smiled slyly at me. I laughed lightly.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  _ Huh if he knows our secrets over the past couple months that means he might know about Mikey’s secret. _ “Sooo if you’ve heard us talking that means you know about operation heart eyes then?” 

“Yeah, I want in on that by the way. Kristin and Mikey are perfect for each other. Also Mikey would not expect me to be helping you guys get them together so me helping could be a real advantage for you.”

“Heck yes. I’ll let the boys know tomorrow. Mikey will never see this team-up coming.” I laughed and Gerard chuckled lightly too. “Have you heard anything about operation Sweet Poison?”

“Uhh no. What’s that one?” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Damn you don’t know either? Mikey, Pete and Patrick wont tell me what it is. Since you said you hear everything I thought maybe you heard them mention it.”

“No I haven’t. Do you have any ideas what it could be about?”

“Nope. What a bunch of butts.” I cross my arms and Gerard laughs.

“Very true.” 

There was a comfortable silence over us for a few moments.  _ Why did Gerard and I stop being friends? This is nice, it feels like normal. Like when we were younger.  _

“Want to watch  _ The Addams Family _ ?” I say shifting over on my bed reaching for my tv remote.

“Sure I love that movie!” Gerard says shifting slightly looking confused as to where he should sit to watch it. I move to the left side of my bed away from the window and Gerard, giving him space next to me to lean against my head board so we can watch together. Gerard hesitates for a moment before kicking his shoes off so they fall to my floor and moving next to me on the bed. It’s a bit awkward again, being so close to each other. But the movie starts and I turn my twinkle lights on that hang on the ceiling above my bed and go over and turn the lights off in my room. Gerard and I sit next to each other with my twinkle lights on above us as we watch the movie. 

At some point I start to get tired and adjust myself so I’m half laying and half sitting up to still watch the movie, but it's so comfortable that I can feel my eyes closing every once in a while. I feel my head start to get heavy and I lean it to the side just barely brushing against Gerard’s arm. The last thing I see before passing out is the Addam’s driving back to their home to confront Fester and the evil lady. 


	7. Where do we go from here?

I wake to the sound of soft music and groan. _Why do I feel so stiff!_ _It’s like I slept on the floor or something._ I look up and see my twinkle lights on and groan again realizing I forgot to turn them off _again_. I reach over to hit the switch and turn my alarm off when I notice a note on my side table. I sit up slightly and grab it.

Y/n,

You fell asleep during the movie and I didn’t want to wake you so I left your fairy lights on and turned the tv off. Thank you for listening to me and just talking with me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

From, 

Gerard

_ OHHHhhhhhh! That’s why I feel so stiff. Fuckin forgot he was over last night. Oh my god.  _ I sat up straight and put my head in my hands as the realization dawned on me.  _ I am 99% sure I fell asleep on him last night. Fuck.  _ I threw myself back on my bed.  _ I’m not close enough with Gerard to pull that shit. Mikey is fine, Patrick is fine, even Pete and Ray but Gerard! We just started being friends again. We arent that close yet! _ I groaned pulling my pillow over my face to hide the awkwardness I was feeling. 

“Y/n! Get up or you're going to be late for school! I’m leaving now! Bye!” I heard my mom yell from downstairs.  _ Heck _ . I threw my pillow to the side and sat up. I took the note up and looked at Gerard’s writing. It was actually nice, if a little scribbly. I stuck the note in my bedside drawer before getting up and heading to my closet. I grabbed some shorts and tee since the weather was still nice out. I got dressed and headed to the bathroom to finish getting ready and actually use the bathroom. 

I head downstairs to have some cereal and gather my school stuff so I’m ready when the boys come to pick me up. I eat the sugary cheerios scrolling through my phone seeing the new updates on some webcomics I follow and what I can read while I wait. After two new installments of my fav mermaid webcomic I hear a car honk outside. I throw my bowl in the dishwasher, grab my shoes and run out in my socks to the car. 

“No shoes today?” Mikey asks as I hop into the back. 

“Nope going barefoot to hell as usual.” I say buckling in and unting my hightops. 

“Cool cool. Very fashionable” Mikey hums looking back at me and reaching a hand back. I put my other shoe in his hand so he can untie it for me. 

“Running late this morning?” Gerard inquired, glancing back towards me. I pulled on my black hightop and I looked at him from under my lashes trying to get him to understand his note threw me off this morning. I lace up my shoe as Mikey dropped the other one on the seat next to me.

“Just a bit,” I mumble as I put my other shoe on. I heard him chuckle and all I could do was curse him with my brain cause I didn’t want Mikey thinking anything was up.  _ Mikey probably thinks somethings up anyway cause Gerard and I being friends is new. _ We ride the rest of the way chatting about school and looking forward to the weekend. 

~

Lunch time finally rolled around and I was so happy to sit with my friends and not be in stupid fucking math anymore. 

“So how badly are you going to hate math this year?” Mikey asked as we walked to our lockers.  _ I used to be good at math in like elementary school. Now it's more of a me hating graphing and doing the homework. _

“If Mrs. Hazard keeps assigning a butt ton of homework, I’m going to cry.” I said grabbing my lunch box. 

“It’s 3 pages?” Mikey said, trying not to laugh at me.

“One fucking page is enough Mikes!” I said holding up a finger and shoving it in his face trying to get my anger across to him. He just ended up laughing at me anyway. 

We closed our lockers and headed to lunch to meet up with Patrick, Pete and Kristin. Sitting under one of the giant trees in the courtyard, we hung out and chatted about some new superhero movie coming out in a few weeks. It was going great till Kristin asked me about my night last night.  _ Like miss, are you a psychic or something. What the crap. _

“It was fine, I fell asleep watching  _ the Addams family _ .” I said drinking some water.

“Dude!” Pete replied, “That’s crazy cause Gerard said he watched the same thing last night.” Pete gave a side glance over to Mikey and Patrick while I tried not to choke on my water. 

“What a coincidence,” Kristin gave me a confused look.  _ She fricken knows if there was something going on between me and fricken anyone I would tell her first so this look is totally justified.  _

“Weird right?” I said pretending to look for something in my lunch box. 100% missing the looks the boys were giving each other and whatever Mikey was whispering to them. 

“Yeah that is… so you weren’t with Gerard last night?” Patrick said. 

“What the fuck ‘Trick.” I said but I could feel my face heating up anyway. “First of all, I don’t hang out with Gerard. Second of all, I don't hang out with Gerard. Third of all! I don’t hang out with Gerard. So you implying that I do is outrageous.” 

“Whoa whoa! Sorry,” Patrick put his hands up in defeat. “I just thought it was interesting. Plus, haven’t you and Gerard actually been getting along again?” 

“I like how you say again as if we fought and that's why we don’t talk.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed a fruit bar from my lunch. 

“Well, I mean you guys haven’t talked in a while and now you're like friends again?” Mikey said, shrugging. “It’s cool.” He gave a small smile. 

“Ohhh even Mikey approves of the new old friendship!” Pete said, throwing his empty gatorade bottle at me. I chucked it straight back at him.

“Maybe that means you should try and hang out with Gerard again. Be friends like you used to,” Kristin said next to me.

“You all sound like you have a secret agenda. No thanks.” I grabbed my trash and went to throw it away. Really I just need a breather.  _ Maybe it’ll be better if people know we are hanging out so it's not weird. And like it will make keeping the secret Vampire thing a secret easier. _ I walked back to some looks but ignored them. Everyone is being weird. 

After lunch we went our separate ways and I walked to Music Theory with Mikey. I could tell Mikey wanted to talk about something but he was being awkward about it. Probably something about Kristin. 

“What’s on your mind bro” I asked as we entered the class room. 

“Are you gonna start hanging out and being friends with Gerard again?”  _ Ooohh not about Kristin. Fuck. _

“Uhh maybe?” I said as we sat down. “That’s not really up to me, it's kind of a mutual thing. Like if he wants to hang out too.” I shrug.  _ Maybe if I’m vague enough Mikey will drop it _ . Mikey nodded and got out his book. 

“I think it would be cool. We could all hang out again like before,” Mikey said quietly. I nodded and got my stuff out.  _ It must be hard for Mikey since his best friends just kind of grew apart. He must have missed hanging out with the both of us. It’s been years since we were all close. _


	8. A Night Together

Gerard’s p.o.v.

~Flashback to Wednesday night~

_ I really hope I’m not bothering Y/n. I know she said we could talk and hang out but this is so random. And I don’t even have her number anymore.  _ I walked up to her window. The lights were on inside which means she should be in there. I looked at the ledge of her window and the trellis that was next to it.  _ I should be able to get up there and tap on her window. _ I climb up the wood and vines so I’m able to peak through Y/n’s window. There she sat on her bed with headphones in and playing on her phone. I reach up and tap on the window a few times hoping she will notice. I can see her take her headphones out and look around so I tap again.

“Holy Shit!” She screams as she sees me and falls off her bed.  _ Fuck. I fucked up. I messed up. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. _

“What the fuck Gerard!” She says looking at me and I can’t help but look ashamed at scaring her.  _ God I fucked up.  _ I drop from my place as I hear her dad running into the room. I hide against the leaves of the trellis as they talk.  _ I should just go home. Save myself the embarrassment and pretend like nothing happened. _

“Gerard?” I hear her say. I look up to see her looking around.  _ Okay maybe I can salvage this and it won't be awkward. _

“Hey!” I say as I stand below her open window. “Can I come up?” 

She nods, she looks kind of… shocked. Maybe this wasn’t a smart idea. I wait for her to move back inside the window before jumping up the ledge and grabbing hold. 

“The fuck,” y/n whispers. I pulled myself in and flopped down on her bed. 

“Super strength,” I reply.  _ There's a lot of cool vampire things I can do. Maybe Y/n would be interested in hearing about it someday. _ I make myself more comfortable on her bed as I lean against the wall by her window. I look over to her and her eyes are piercing right back into mine.

“Why are you here?” I flinch at the words.  _ I really did mess up. I shouldn’t have bothered her.  _ “Sorry that came out wrong,” she said. I couldn’t help but look at her with some hope. “I mean, you’re in my room and we never hang out and I’m just confused right now.” She looks down at her hands.  _ This is awkward. Damn I messed up. _

“Oh uh, I wanted to hang out but I don’t have your number so I just. I just kind of showed up. Sorry.” I look down at my hands, embarrassment all over my face. I don’t need a mirror to know that. 

“Oh,” I feel the bed shift and suddenly Y/n is handing her phone to me. “Give me your number.” I look up at her and can feel myself smiling. I take her phone and put my number in and text myself to just to be sure I have her number. I handed it back to her and I saw her check it before putting it down on her bed.

“So, you uh, wanted to hang out?” She said looking back at me. 

“Uh, yeah! If that’s, if that’s okay with you?” I stuttered out.  _ Fuck. Here I thought I was doing better and now the nerves are hitting again. I hate how nervous she makes me.  _

“Yeah, it's fine. I mean, I’m not doing anything right now anyway.” She shrugs.

“Cool.” I say.  _ Yeah but what if she was busy or doing shit. Ughh this could have been so bad. Next time I’ll ask before doing anything. Should I apologize for bothering her? Man why does everything about her make me doubt myself. _

“Do you want to watch something? Or talk?”  _ Thank the heavens that Y/n is so good at making things not awkward. _

“I… Could we talk for a bit?” I ask looking down at my hands. “I haven’t really talked to anyone lately, even Mikey.”

“Like in general about things, or like about being a blood sucker?” She laughs. I can’t help but smile.  _ She’s so good at making things feel normal _ . 

~ I’m skipping like half of this cause I don’t want to rewrite the whole conversation~

There was a comfortable silence over us for a few moments.  _ Why did Y/n and I stop being friends? This is great, it feels like when we were younger. Well sort of. So much has changed. And feelings are different now.  _

“Want to watch  _ The Addams Family _ ?” She says reaching for her remote.

“Sure I love that movie!” I say smiling. But I notice I’m not in a good position to watch the movie, I’d have to turn my head the whole time. I feel the bed shift and see Y/n shifting over to the left of her bed making space between her and the wall. She gives me a look as if her moving is exactly what I think it is.I hesitate a moment before I kick my shoes off and move next to her with my back against her head board. I sit next to her and I feel so stiff.  _ We are never this close. Oh god. She smells really nice. Maybe this was a bad idea. I’m not even that close to her but oh god.  _

Y/n gets up as the movie starts and turns on some twinkle lights that are above her bed and turns off the big light in her room. She comes back and sits next to me.  _ I think she sat closer to me than she was before. Maybe I’m just hoping. _

As the movie goes on Y/n start sliding down to get more comfortable. She moves her pillow up more so she’s leaning back at an angle. I feel something against my arm and looking down I see Y/n’s head against my arm. I tense up trying not to move her but also just from the shock of the contact. I look down and notice her eyes are closed and her breathing is pretty even.  _ Oh shit she fell asleep. What do I do? I can’t move or I’ll wake her up! Shit! _ I freeze and hold myself as still as I can while I wait for the movie to finish.  _ She looks really peaceful though. She’s just as pretty sleeping as she is awake.  _

Once the movie finishes I slide my hand under her head and slowly shift away from her, making sure I don’t wake her up. I climb off her bed and sit on the floor putting my shoes back on. I look around her bedroom and notice the posters on her wall and the many pictures of her and her friends. There’s even an old picture of me and her up on her bulletin board. I smile to myself before grabbing a paper off her desk and writing a quick note to her and leaving it on her night stand. I turn off her tv but decide to leave the lights on just in case. I glance back at her one last time before I leave and I can’t help but lean over and press my lips against her head.  _ Y/n. You are going to ruin me. _ I climb the end of her bed gently so I don’t wake her before I sneak back through her window and close it behind me.

I drop down to the grass and head back to my house in the dark.  _ I can’t believe Y/n and I actually got to hang out. When was the last time we actually did that. Even if it was just watching a movie. Just the two of us hanging out hasn’t happened since… a long time. Before 9th grade. Before Mikey’s crush on her and me stepping back from my crush on her, so Mikey could have a chance.  _ I kicked a rock as I walked up to my house. 

“Where have you been?”Mikey asks from the couch as I walk in the door.  _ Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I thought he was in his room. _

“Just on a walk.” I shrugged. Mikey just hummed and turned back to the video game he was playing. As I walked past him towards my room I ruffled his hair earning an annoyed sound from my brother.

I get to my room and can’t help but dash down the stairs and throw myself on the bed.  _ Things are going to be so different now. I get to talk to Y/n again, be friends again. But that means the crush is just going to get worse.  _ I grab my pillow forcing it on to my face, suffocation wont work but at least it feels like I'm getting my frustrations out.  _ I wonder if we are going to let people know we are friends again, and like hang out with people knowing. Ray and Frank are going to tease me so much when they find out. Thank god Mikey doesn’t know I like her. Shit I need to make sure I’m full whenever I see her. She smells way too good for me to control myself like I would around Mikey. I hope I don’t make her feel weird and fuck this all up. _


	9. Mall Rats

Saturday was finally here which meant hanging with Mikey, Pete and Patrick for the day! We had decided to go to the mall and just hang at the food court since none of us had much money in the first place. Pete was picking up Mikey and I, while Patrick was getting a ride from Joe who worked at Hottopic in the mall. It's nice having friends who can actually drive, or at least have cars. Cause I can drive, I just have no car. 

Mikey: You want to come over before we head to the mall?

Y/n/n: Sure!

I grab some shoes since I had already gotten ready for the day and head over to Mikey’s. The walk is short and nice, the weather is like perfect out today. I walk up to the door and knock,  _ Mikey better open up.  _

“Uh Hey,” Gerard said standing in the open doorway.

“Hey.” We stood there awkwardly for a moment.  _ Clearly neither of us expected to see each other so soon. _

“Do you want to come in?” He asked, he sounded unsure. I felt unsure.

“Uh yeah,” I walked in and stepped to the side of him. We looked at each other for a moment. It looked like he wanted to say something.

“Y/n! You’re here,” Mikey said walking down the stairs. I turned from Gerard.  _ Why is this all so awkward. UGHHHHHH! _

“Hey Mikey,” I looked at him and sent him a smile.

“Want to play video games till Pete gets here?” He asked as he went into the kitchen. 

“Sure,” I looked up at Gerard and he sent me an awkward smile.

“Have fun,” mumbling he turned and walked away back toward his room.  _ This is so weird, why do I feel bad? Did he think I was here to hang with him?  _

“You ready?” Mikey asked, coming out of the kitchen with two cokes and some chips. 

“Yeah,” I smiled and followed him up stairs. We played some Smash Bros. for a little while till Pete texted us he was here. The drive to the mall was fun, we had music blasting and were singing way too loud. Some guy in the car next to us stared at us at a red light. It was funny, Pete waved and sped off the minute the light turned green. He’s a bit of a reckless driver. But a ride is a ride. 

We parked pretty close to the front of the mall and saw that Patrick was sitting on a bench waiting for us,  _ Joe must have started work early.  _

“Hey ‘Trick!” I yelled as we walked up to the mall, Patrick jumped slightly before looking up at us.

“Why do you always feel the need to scare me?” He asked, getting up as we got to him. I just shrugged and laughed before giving him a hug. 

“Hey loser, is Joe already at work?” Pete asked giving Patrick a hug too.

“Yeah he made us get here like 15 minutes ago so he could start early so he can hang with us later.”

“How nice of him,” I smiled as we started to walk into the mall.

“Nice? He made me wait out here for you guys for like 15 minutes all alone!” Patrick complained, Mikey just pat him on the shoulder to show his condolences.

As we head inside the mall and we go straight to the food court to grab some lunch and hang out. After a while we went and bothered Joe in Hot Topic and even walked into Box Lunch for a bit so see their nerdy stuff. 

~

At around 7 we figured it was time to leave the mall since Joe was now off and we were all tired. So we got our stuff and headed out and said our goodbyes before getting in the cars and leaving.

“Today was fun, we should do it again.” Pete said as we left the mall.

“Yeah it was, maybe next time we actually go window shopping yeah?” I said from the front seat.

“What and pretend we can buy things?” Mikey said from the back.

“Yes, exactly!”

Pete laughed next to me. We drove the rest of the way chatting about the music Pete was playing and about how his bass playing is coming along. The drive was nice. As Pete pulled up to my house he looked at me and said, “Have fun doing nothing the rest of your night y/n/n.”

“You’re an ass.” I said getting out of the car.

“By Y/n! See you on Monday,” Mikey said from the back.

“Yeah bye buttface!” Pete said. 

I smiled at him with contempt. “Bye Petey, bye Mikey!” I waved at the boys as I closed the door and headed up my driveway to get into my empty home. 

Once I was inside I went straight upstairs and got changed into some pj’s. I threw my phone on the bed and turned on my twinkle lights before I turned off the big light. As soon as my room was softly lit I flopped on my bed.  _ Sometimes boys are just so tiring. Maybe I’ll just go to sleep early. _

~Ding

I groaned, lifting my head and reaching for my phone on my nightstand. 

Gerard: Do you want to hang out?

Y/n: You’re outside my window aren’t you?

Gerard: … no.

Y/n: Liar.

I got up from my comfy position and threw open my window and looked down. Surprisingly no Gerard. I grabbed my phone.

Gerard: Is that a yes I can come over?

Y/n: Yeah

Gerard: Sweet.

Gerard: I’m here.

I looked back down and there he was, he’s fucking fast. I waved at him and moved from my window so he could come in. He was climbing in through the window as soon as I had moved away. As soon as he was through he kicked his shoes off so they wouldn’t be on my bed.

“Want to watch something? Mikey is spending the night at Pete’s.” Gerard said getting comfy on my bed where he sat last time he came over, before the movie of course. 

“Yeah I know, Pete took me home after we hung out today and since he dropped me off before Mikey, I figured they were having a sleepover.” I got up off my bed and walked over to all my movies. “What do you want to watch? I promise I won't fall asleep this time.”

Gerard chuckled behind me, “I’m good with anything. Maybe something animated?” 

“Haha, you want something Disney animated or are you talking Ghibli Studio?” I looked at him over my shoulder with a smile.

“Oh definitely Ghibli over Disney.” He laughed,  _ he’s got a cute smile _ .  _ Uh no. Stop that. That is Mikey’s brother. Objectively! That’s okay, but nothing more. _

“Its much more of a Ghibli day,” I turned back to the dvd and grabbed  _ Spirited Away _ cause I knew it was something we could both just chill to. Popping in the dvd I went and plopped back onto bed. 

“What did you pick?” He asked, shifting awkwardly in his spot to see the tv.

“Spirited Away, you can sit next to me to see it better.” I said scooting over so he had room. 

“You sure?” He looked at me as if I was making a mistake and would say no.

“Yeah, come on.” I pat the spot next to me and grab the remote so I can skip the commercials. He crawled over and sat next to me, leaning his back against my headrest. We were close but there was a good bit of bed between us still. There is only so much room on a full sized bed, thank god I don’t have a twin or something.

“What movie did you pick?” He shifted next to me getting comfortable.

“Spirited Away, it's a classic.”

“Nice! Just the movie I was hoping for.”

About halfway through the movie I started to feel hungry.

“Do you want any snacks?” I asked quietly, trying not to ruin the movie too much. 

“No I’m good. But thanks.” He smiled at me.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

“Do you want to pause the movie?” He asked as I was getting up.

“Nah, I'll be fast.” I smiled and left my room heading downstairs for the kitchen. Passing the living I see my dad asleep on the couch again, who knows where my mom is at the moment. I grab some oreos and chips from the cupboard along with two water bottles before heading back up the stairs. Opening my door quietly I throw a water bottle at Gerard. Gotta test those vampire reflexes. He caught it perfectly, to my defence it was a good through. 

I laughed as I closed the door. 

“Testing my reflexes?” He chuckled as I came back onto the bed.

“Yup,” I said, popping the P. He just laughed and we settled back in to watch the movie. It was nice, not as awkward and school. The movie was only interrupted by the sounds of me munching on my snacks and the crackle of our water bottles as we opened or grabbed them. As the movie ended I couldn’t help the yawn that escaped my mouth. 

“Are you tired? I could go,” Gerard sat up next to me, we had both slowly sunk down almost laying on my pillows by the end of the movie.

“No, well yeah I’m tired,” I laughed, “But you don’t need to go. 

“Are you sure?” He looked down at me.  _ Am I sure? I know for a fact I’m probably going to fall asleep soon. But I don’t want him to be alone.  _

“Yeah, as long as you don’t care if I fall asleep during the next movie.” I shrugged leaning back on my arms.

“I can just go, I don’t want to keep you up.” he said getting off my bed to grab his shoes.

“Gerard you can stay, it's not a problem.” I sat up and watched him put his shoes on.

“No, I’ll head home. I got to finish something for art anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Gerard gets up and looks down at me, still sitting on my bed in my pj’s.

“Yeah, get some sleep Y/n.” He smiles at me before climbing out my window. I sit on my bed for a moment in my now empty room.  _ Why do I feel so bad about him leaving? _ I lean over and close my window before turning my tv off then my fairy lights. I lay on my bed in the dark for a while just staring up at my ceiling and the glow in the dark stars that were up there before I finally fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On wattpad I apologized for how shitty this chap is, not super edited and I didn't have a clear idea on how Patrick and Pete were gonna be yet. They will be in a later chapter so I will work on it.  
> Also I wrote this chapter backwards lol. Legit did the whole last part with gee, then went and wrote the beginning few paragraphs, wrote some before you go home, and then went back and finished the mall stuff.


	10. Awkward Much?

Tuesday barely started, like I legit just woke up and it already feels like it is going to be a weird day.  _ Maybe it’s from the really shitty takeout I had last night or cause I fell asleep with my twinkle lights on. Maybe it's from the dream I had just now where Gerard was one of those classic vampires from the old movies trying to seduce me so he can drink my blood. Whatever it is, I feel weird as fuck. And I’ll analyze that dream later, ain't got no time for that mess of hormones. _

I got up for the day and got ready in some black shorts and a Ramones t-shirt. Thankfully that weird ass dream got me up before my alarm so I can get completely ready now and take my time with breakfast and eat something more than pop tarts or waffles. I finished getting ready then grabbed my socks and white high tops before heading down stairs to make some breakfast.

Making myself eggs and actually sitting down for breakfast today not having to rush is so nice. Maybe today isn’t going to be as weird as it feels even though I definitely feel off. 

As I got in the car I could tell it was different too. 

“Hey boys,” I said buckling in.

“Hey,” they said in unison. Creepy. No one said anything for a while.

“Uh bad morning boys?” I asked, trying to alleviate the awkward tension.

“No uh sorry, just thinking.” Gerard said.

“And you?” I leaned over trying to look better at Mikey.

“I woke up late, I’m still asleep. I don’t know how I made it to the car.” Mikey chuckled softly.

“Sounds like your normal day Mikes,” I nudged this seat with my knee as I laughed.

“Rude,” He said back to me. The atmosphere felt better after that. School however, was eh like usual. Gerard and I walked to English together, makes sense we have that class together right? Walk was still awkward. A tension was there but I don’t know why. English was whatever, and then Government was boring. Like I know I should care but right now I’m not feeling that. After class was out I rushed out of the room to get to my locker as fast as I could, I just want to be in choir already. As I walked through the hall a strong hand on my arm nearly made me yelp. Turning around I saw it was Gerard.

“Uh hey,” I said as I faced him, hoping he didn’t know that he just scared me.

“Hey, uh do you want to maybe go see my batcave this weekend?” Gerard asked, he looked nervous.  _ Understandable, cause this whole friendship makes me nervous _ . 

“Oh yeah, that would be cool” I brushed my hair behind my ear, a nervous tick that always gets mistaken for flirting by literally everyone. 

“C-cool”, Gerard said. We stood in the hallway awkwardly for a moment. “Do you, uh, want to walk to choir together?” 

“Sure! I just need to grab my math book first.” Gerard nodded and walked to my locker. “Uh why didn’t you just ask me during choir?”

“Well,” Gerard leaned against the locker next to me, “I didn’t want anyone hearing cause like, it would be weird hearing someone ask if you want to see their batcave.” Gerard chuckled.

“Ohh shit yeah, people gonna think it's dirty,” I laughed. 

“Yup.” He said popping the P. “And this is already awkward, so. Uh. Didn’t think I needed other people to see that too.” He said a bit quieter. 

I laughed, “We are super awkward,” I closed my locker and we headed off to choir. 

“When did you want to hang out?” I asked as we approached the class.

“How about Friday? Unless you already have plans with Mikey” Gerard shoved his hands in his pockets.

“No, I’m free. Friday is good,” I nodded as we walked into the room.

“Cool.” We went to our separate seats on the risers where we sat in our vocal range section. The room wasn’t really full yet, some people were standing by the piano messing around or just standing in the middle talking.  _ Wait if we are hanging out so I can see the warehouse he hangs in, the fuck are the boys gonna think? And Kristin? What are we going to tell them? _

I got up from my spot leaving my sheet music there and went straight to Gerard, plopping myself down on the riser his feet were resting on. He looked up surprised that I came over to him. I saw some kids looking at me too.  _ Guess me hanging with Gerard isn’t just weird to our friends _ . 

“Uhh what are we telling Mikey and everyone,” I whisper to him. I don’t worry about being too quiet cause I know he can hear me. Gerard looked at me confused but realization dawned on him. We’re hanging out with our friends knowing now. How are we going to explain that?

“Fuck,” He said leaning his head back against the railing.

“Yup,” I said looking at some kids by the piano who were looking at us and quickly looked away when I looked at them.  _ Dumb sophomores and juniors. _

“Uh the comic shop?” It sounded like a question and a statement, I couldn’t help but look at him confused. “Aren’t they doing like some party on Friday? We could say we’re going to that since we both like comics.” He whispered to me leaning in my space so the other people near us couldn't hear. 

“That sounds good.” I nodded as Gerard scooted back. “Wait that actually sounds fun, dang.” I said leaning against his knee. I didn’t notice Gerard stiffen a bit at that.

“Well we could stop by if you want,” He said shrugging.

“Nah, they’ll have another one next month we can go to.” I said, noticing more people around and a boy standing awkwardly near us. “Am I in your seat?” 

“Uh yeah,” He said holding his music to his chest showing just how awkward he is.  _ Poor freshmen.  _

“Sorry,” I stood. “I’ll talk to you later Gerard.” 

“Yeah,” He waved me off as I went and sat where I put my music.  _ Huh, things are gonna be interesting. I wonder what our friends will say. Wow it’s only Tuesday and this week is just as different as I thought it was going to be. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sad thing, is that if you dont follow this on wattpad you don't get to see any cute pics I post with the chapters :C   
> its not all the time but still cute shit.  
>  https://www.wattpad.com/story/243936475-sweet-venom?utm_source=web&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_info


	11. It's Not a Date

Friday rolls around and no one has asked me about my plans for the weekend. I mean usually Mikey would ask to hang out but nothing, from him or Kristin, even Patrick and Pete are silent. I got ready for school as usual, but shorts/skirt cause it’s pretty nice out today. I grab my things and some breakfast and head out to Gerard’s waiting car. 

“Hey there,” I said, hopping into the backseat. 

“Hey,” Mikey said, he was on his phone.

“Morning,” Gerard said, waiting for me to put my seat belt on so he could drive away. I sent him a smile as I got settled in.

“Who you texting Mikey?” I poked his shoulder as we made our way out of the neighborhood.

“Pete, he wants to hang out tonight. But we’re hanging out right?” Mikey asked me. I glanced at Gerard with mild panic, he didn’t mention our plans to Mikey and clearly neither did I at this point. Gerard made quick eye contact with me that said:  _ tell him _ .

“Oh, well I have plans tonight Mikey, you should’ve asked me sooner.” I shrugged. _ I hope that didn't come out as awkward as it felt.  _

“Wait, what?” Mikey turned in his seat to look at me. 

“Yup. You missed on the opportunity to hang out with such an awesome person tonight. Sorry,” I shrugged again and gave him a smirk,  _ please tell me I’m pulling this off and not being suspicious _ .

“Dang,” Mikey turned back around, “well I’m still telling Pete no cause I don’t want to go on a fucking 2 hour drive for a concert of a band I don’t even like.” Mikey laughed. 

I couldn’t help but laugh too. But I also didn’t tell Mikey what I was doing tonight. Which is bad, cause that’s going to be fuckin awkward conversation later. 

~ 

School went by slowly, maybe cause I was excited for tonight.  _ Wait am I excited? Or nervous? Like what even kind of place is the warehouse? Am I going to be murdered tonight? Wait. That's ridiculous. He would never do something like that cause it would break Mikey’s heart. And hopefully that's the main reason and not just cause we are becoming friends. _

The final bell rang and I grabbed all my shit from my locker, waiting for Mikey, Gerard, Frank and Ray to show up from band. The boys looked sweaty. Well the three of them, Frank wasn’t there.

“Where ‘s the short one?” I asked. Technically I’m the short one cause Frank is like an inch or two taller than me. But I act taller than him, legit people think I’m taller. Frank fucking hates it. 

“Frank got detention earlier. He has to go back to his English class.” Ray said opening the locker next to me.

“That sucks.” I waited for them to grab their things before Kristin joined us and we all headed down to the parking lot. 

“So, anyone have any fun plans for tonight?” Kristin says as we stop by the cars.

“Nope,” Ray said, looking so sad. I put my hand on his arm in solace. 

“I feel that,” Mikey said from across from me. 

“What about you Gerard?” Kristin asked from next to me.

“Oh uh, Y/n and I are going to the comic shop tonight.” He said not looking at me, but I instantly felt Mikey’s eyes on me. And I could see Ray giving Gerard a look out of the corner of my eye.

“Yeah,” I chimed in, gotta stop the awkward, “they are having a cool little party plus there is a new Red Robin comic dropping that I want to get.” I held my fat English text book to my chest hoping no one would question me or Gerard.  _ I mean there is a new Red Robin comic coming out and the comic store is holding a shin dig so it's not that weird.  _ (if you know comics, I know it's not the right day cause most drop on wednesdays, just go with it)

“That’s cool,” Ray said slowly. “Maybe I’ll have to stop by, I love when the comic shop throws parties.”  _ Oh Ray, my literal ray of sunshine. DO NOT go to the comic store and expose the fact that Gerard and I will not be there. _ I directed my thoughts to him but I noticed him look at Gerard and make a ‘oh maybe not’ face.  _ Thank you Gerard and your ability to make scary intimidating faces.  _ There was a moment of awkwardness between the boys before Kristin chimed in. Even Mikey was giving a look to Gerard now.

“That’ll be a fun Friday night!” Kristin said, she’s the only one not being weird cause she knows if something was up I would tell her. “Wish  _ someone  _ would take me to a fun party like that.” She said, only slightly sarcastically. I just laughed knowingly and when I looked at Mikey he was looking at the ground.  _ One day he will make a move. _

“Hey Kristin, why don’t you and Mikey do something tonight?” Gerard said. I turned my head at him so fast I probably got whiplash.  _ He is working on the ship, I just know it _ . “I mean, you would probably be hanging out with Y/n and I’d probably be playing video games with Mikey. So why don’t you two hang out?” Gerard made it sound so innocent.  _ This man is going to make the ship happen faster than me, Ray, Patrick or Pete combined.  _

“Yeah!” Ray started, “You guys could go to the arcade or go catch a movie or something.” Ray was smiling that smile reserved for teasing Mikey. 

“That sounds fun dontcha think?” I said directed at Kristin, she was fighting a blush so hard, it was cute. 

“Uh yeah, yeah that would be cool.” Mikey said quietly. 

“Y-yeah, we haven’t hung out in a while. Just the two of us,” Kristin mumbled. I looked at Gerard who was giving me a shit eating grin, I couldn’t help but smile at him with a look that said:  _ I cannot believe you did that so fucking easily, you bastard. _

“Alright I’m here! Detention sucks! What did I miss?” Frank said strolling up to us.  _ Frank only ever gets detention for one thing and one thing only, being a smartass to the teacher. He’s way too smart to get detention for skipping or not doing work. Well skipping and getting caught doing it. _

“Uhhh we all have plans for tonight so you're stuck being alone.” I said with a smile.

“Like… alone alone, or is Ray available?” Frank asked, looking at us.

“I’m free so we can hang if you want.” Ray said.

“Sweet, at least Ray’s got a big dick so I’m good.” 

“FRANK!” We all yelled. 

“Don’t sexualize your friends!” Kristin said punching Frank in the arm, hard.

“Sorry… I mean” Frank smiled mischievously, shrugging. “Sorry.” He laughed. Ray just looks down and covers his face with one of his hands shaking his head in disappointment.  “Well I mean Ray isn’t the only one,” Frank trailed off and stared down Gerard. Gerard just glared back at Frank as his cheeks went red. 

“Boys, boys, boys.” I said, “No one cares about your dick size. We’re in high school, calm the fuck down.” I rolled my eyes,  _ boys are so immature. _ Kristin laughed and elbowed me.

“Yeah yeah, so what are the other plans.” Frank looked at the rest of us.

“Well Mikey and Kristin are gonna hang out tonight since Gerard and I are busy,” I said, trying to make me and Gerard hanging out sound more normal. 

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Frank put his hands up to stop me. “You and Gerard are  _ busy? _ ” He looked between the two of, the implications not being lost.

“Yeah, Gerard and Y/n are going to the comic store for a party,” Mikey said and there was an edge to his voice, but he wouldn’t look at me so I couldn’t figure out why.

“OOOOOooooooo!” Frank looked between Gerard and me. “A party! Nice nice. Hanging out for the first time in uh how long exactly?” Frank gave Gerard a look.

“A long time,” I shrugged, “Figured it's time to stop being weird and hang out again.” 

“Hmm very cool. Welp, let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m over school,” Frank said, walking past Gerard and Ray towards Ray’s car. 

“Yeah I guess we should head out,” Ray mumbled as he was still looking at Gerard as if trying to ask him something. 

“Uh yeah,” Mikey said quietly. Kristin and I shared a look and rolled our eyes.  _ Boys are so ridiculous. _

We all said our goodbyes and got in the cars to head home. The car ride back to my house was pretty quiet. Even for Mikey standards. I was dropped off with the promise of a text as to when Gerard was picking me up.

“You have each other's numbers?” Mikey asked, looking at me like having exchanged numbers with Gerard means that I’m crazy. 

“Uh yeah, not that weird Mikes.” I said bye to them and walked into my house. 

~

I walked into my house and head up to my room to put on some comfy clothes for the night,  _ who knows what going to an abandoned warehouse will entail but I better be prepared. _ I pull on a pair of black skinny jeans, which are toasty considering the still kind of summery weather. I changed my t-shirt for a blue and white striped tank top and grabbed a sweatshirt in case it gets super cold later. 

As soon as I finished changing I got a text from Gerard saying he’d pick me up at 5:45  _ Dang that's early. But we are supposed to be pretending to go to that party, and like eat before hand?  _

y/n: Are we getting food or should I eat before?

Gerard: We can grab food if you want.

y/n: I’m cool with anything

Gerard: >.> really. We’ll get something after I pick you up

y/n: Okay! ^-^

I laughed at the face I sent, if Gerard is gonna send non emoji faces then so will I. I put my phone down and went to fix my hair and touch up the makeup I already had on.  _ Gotta make this seem like a real hang out. Though at this point it kind of feels like a date. But it's not. It's just us hanging out and being friends. _

After I head downstairs to chill on the couch and read some fanfiction till it's closer to 5:30 when I should put my shoes on. While lounging and being a dork I get a text from Mikey.

The Only Friend: So is tonight like a date or something?

I can’t help but choke on my spit at that.  _ Mikey your imagination is greater than I give you credit for. _

The Badass: No! What the crap Mikey?

The Only Friend: Yeah well….. You two hanging by yourselves…. and going to a party….

The Badass:.... kay. I see how this sounds

The Only Friend: exactly. Y’all never hung out till now. What changed?

The Badass: nothings going on if that's what youre asking. we just are hanging out for the first time in forever~

The Only Friend: Nice frozen ref. Okay. just making sure you didn’t forget to tell me something.

The Badass: yeah no. cause thats your dang brother. no crushes here. No secret dates. Just friends hanging out

The Only Friend: Okay good. 

i mean if it was a crush you could tell me. i wouldn’t care. Be happy for you like you are for me.

The Badass: Thanks Mikey. This is why we’re best friends. And no, no crushes.

The Only Friend: Actually I’m your only friend like my name on here states. 

The Badass: lol tru. 

~

I get up and start pulling my shoes on, noticing that it's 5:40. I just put on my black vans cause they were easier, aka the closest and I didn’t feel like lacing up high tops.  _ I can’t believe me hanging out with Gerard for the first time in years is assumed to be a date by Mikey. What the heck. Like just cause we’re teens doesn’t mean we have to be on a date, we can just be friends.  _ I grab my cross body purse that’s big enough for my wallet, keys and phone, and small enough to not bother me. I hear the honk of Gerard’s car and yank the sweatshirt I brought downstairs off the couch before heading out the door. His car is right in front and I head straight for the passenger seat. Almost like second nature despite the fact that I have never once sat in the passenger seat in this car. 

“Hey,” I said as I got in the car.

“Hi” “Hey” I turn around hearing the second voice.

“Mikes, the fuck you doing in the back?” I say with the most confused look on my face.

“We’re picking up Kristin. I figured you should sit in the front since you’ll be in the car longer than me.” He said, giving me a look.  _ The heck does this look mean. Does this have to do with the texts? I already said this wasn’t a date. The fuck. _

“Well thanks,” I turned around in the seat but not before noticing Gerard staring at my lap. I looked down too. _ Oh shit _ .  _ The sweatshirt I brought… is the one he handed me from his basement.  _ I can’t help but shift it to the side as if trying to hide it as I put my seat belt on. Gerard didn’t say anything about it though.

“Yeah we’re, uh going to drop them off at the mall so they can get dinner and go see a movie.” Gerard spoke as he drove away toward my house so we could pick up Kristin. I hummed as I looked out the window.  _ This feels awkward now. I should have paid more attention to what sweatshirt I was grabbing. And why the heck is Mikey being weird. I told him this wasn’t a date.  _

“Hi friends!” Kristin says as she jumps in the back seat with Mikey. We all greet her with some hey’s and hi’s. We drove to the mall and dropped them off. It wasn’t nearly as awkward of a “goodbye and text us when you're done” as I thought it would be. Mikey definitely looked shy and a bit awkward but that's normal. I felt awkward though. It felt like Gerard and I were parents saying have fun on a date to their kids. But also the implication that we were going to be alone now. 

“So, you ready to go see my secret lair?” Gerard asks with a smirk turning to look at me as Kristin and Mikey walk into the mall.

“Sure thing Batman, but uhh dinner first please?” I asked because I could feel the hunger setting in.

“Right, dinner then to the batcave!” Gerard says, pulling out of the mall and heading to a cute dinner near the edge of town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope Y'all enjoyed that dick joke.   
> Also please enjoy the fact that this chapter and the next two also happen on a Friday and I just so happen to have an update schedule on Fridays. Isn't that beautiful?


	12. Not a Date, Date

The diner we got to was really cute, 50’s themed and everything. It took like a minute to be seated which was really great cause I’m sure Gerard is about to hear my stomach growl, I’m so hungry. We were seated in a booth in the back so we could almost see everyone in the diner. A cute older woman came up to wait on us. The 50’s style uniform was a teal and pink and just *chef’s kiss* I would wear it. 

"What will you two kids be having to drink tonight?” She asked us.

“A water please,” Gerard said.

“I’ll have a cherry coke please,” I said next.

“So polite. I’ll be right back with that.” She said leaving us be.

I laughed, “Us polite? I mean how can you be rude? She looks so cute.” I said leaning on the table.

“True, manners are pretty punk since so few people actually use them.” Gerard rolled his eyes and I couldn’t help but laugh. The awkwardness slowly melting away in the warm diner. 

“Hah Gerard you look like you belong in here with that leather jacket,” I said opening the menu.

“You think so? Got that vintage look going for me?” He said flipping the collar up and making a smoulder kind of look. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“Did you kids get a chance to look over the menu yet?” the waitress asks as she puts our drinks down.

“No could we have a minute?” Gerard asked.

“Sure thing, I’ll be right back.” 

“Nice save, legit I was gonna panic and order the first thing I saw.” I said laughing.

“What the heck Y/n. There’s legit no pressure to order if you didn’t look at the dang menu,” Gerard laughed and so did I. We both looked over the menu and decided burgers sounded the best because it was a diner. The waitress came back after a few minutes and looked at me first to order.  _ Nice. _

“I'd like a garden burger with sweet potato fries please” (I’m sorry if you hate sweet potato fries. I really am).

“Alright, that’s easy. And for you young man.” She wrote down my order and turned to Gerard.

“I’ll have a BBQ burger with curly fries.” He said handing her our menus.

“Sounds good,” She took the menus from him. “How would you like that cooked?”

“Rare,” I made a face cause eww that's so gross. The waitress nodded and left us. 

"How can you eat it so bloody?!” I made a disgusted face.

Gerard fixed me with a look like I’m a fucking idiot, “Are you seriously asking me that right now.” I looked at him confused till it hit me.  _ Riiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhht. _

“I forgot,” I said in the smallest voice looking away, trying not to laugh at my own stupidity. Gerard laughed at me anyway.

“It takes some getting used to.” He said, shrugging. I chuckled too.

We had our burgers and just talked. We kind of played 21 questions since there is so much we don’t know about each other anymore. It's been a long time since we were this close. Once dinner was done Gerard refused to let me help pay. We argued. He won. 

After everything was paid for we headed back to his car and went off towards the old district where there were a lot of empty buildings. Gerard pulled the car into a parking lot by a Walmart. 

“We uh, we’re going to have to walk.” He said as he cut the engine.

“Okay,” I said quietly. We got out of his car that he parked pretty close to the store so people wouldn’t try anything. I grabbed the sweatshirt and tied it around my waist just in case I got cold later. Getting out of the car I followed him towards the back lot. We walked away for a while, it was probably a 15 minute walk from the Walmart to the giant ass warehouse that Gerard referred to as the Batcave. Or maybe it was cause I called it that. The sun was still up which was nice, but it would be setting within an hour. We walked around a giant fence to a gap towards the side and slipped through, then we headed to an open window on the side. 

“Here, I’ll help you on to the ledge.” Gerard said reaching a hand out for me. I grabbed his hand but didn’t really know what to do with it. The window was a little high for me to just sit on. Gerard got down on one knee, which at any other moment would probably send me reeling. 

“Just step on my thigh, don’t worry you won't hurt me.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “Really. I got super strength remember? I just figure this would be more comfortable for you than me lifting you up.”

“You right.” I said quickly, placing my free hand on the ledge and stepping on his leg to get myself on the windows ledge. I sat on the ledge, letting go of Gerard’s hand. I maneuvered my legs to the other side of the ledge and let myself on to the floor. Gerard hopped up and was next to me in seconds.  _ Damn vampire strength and speed. _ I mentally shook a fist at being a slow human. 

“Well uh, welcome to my Batcave” Gerard said gesturing to the open warehouse. The space was pretty nice actually, well it shouldn’t be that surprising since Gerard comes here a lot. There were a bunch of crates around the edges and a few used as like a table and chairs.

“How the hell did you get a couch in here?” I pointed to the green lounge set tucked into the corner against some crates. 

“Uh it was just on the street so I carried it here,” Gerard said walking towards it.

“Is it even clean?” I asked following him.

“Definitely. I sprayed it down and like left it here for like a week before sitting on it.” He chuckled plopping down on it, but no dust flew up like I thought would so it really much be safe. I looked around some more at the comics on the crates being used as tables, the empty soda cans and some… are those cigarette buds?

“Dude. Do you smoke?” I look at Gerard incredulously.

“Uhh yeah? I mean I can’t die like a normal human and it actually relaxes me.” 

“Sooo… weed or just cigs?” I walked over to him.

“Just cigarettes. Weed is Frank’s thing,” He pauses, “ and sometimes Mikey.” I sit down next to him.

“I fuckin new Mikey was doing weed. Asshole lied to me,” I crossed my arms as I sank back into the soft green cushions.

“He didn’t want you to worry,” Gerard said, turning to be kind of facing me.

“Yeah, well I’m his best friend he should be able to tell me this stuff.” I pulled my legs up onto the couch.

“Y/n, don’t put your shoes on my couch.” He said sternly. I tensed up and looked up at Gerard with my mouth agape,  _ is he being fuckin serious. _ Gerard was smiling though like he was trying to catch me off guard and he did. I rolled my eyes with a smile as I moved so my feet were even more on the couch. 

“What do you wanna do?” I asked, getting comfy. He looked at me for a moment. We were feeling more comfortable around each other after that 21 questions during dinner. 

“I feel like you would be able to come up with more questions about me being a vampire than I can think of things to just like tell you.” He said as he turned so he was facing me more.

“So like 21 questions but Vampire edition?” I laughed. 

“Yeah definitely.” 

“Hmm alright. Uh night vision?” I raised an eyebrow at him.  _ Can’t believe I have to basically hold an Interview with a Vampire.  _

“I can see almost as clear as day. It’s like I know it's dark and everything has like a filter on it to make it not so bright. But I can still see everything. I can turn it on and off.” 

“Hmm interesting, so you can use it to sneak around at night.” I joked.

“Yeah that’s exactly what I do,” He laughed. It sounded so light, like he wasn’t stressed being here. No expectations of how to behave. 

“I definitely would use it for that too,” I laughed along with him. “Okay but how fast are you? Like you made it to my house so fast last Saturday.”

“I have absolutely no idea, I never tested it.” Gerard shrugged looking at the table in front of us.

“Well, how far away is the car?”

“About a mile, why?” He looked questioningly at me.

“Go to the car and back and I’ll time you, best way to figure out how fast you are. See how fast you can run two miles.” I raised my arms in a kinda why not motion.

“Alright, how are you going to time me?” Gerard said getting up and walking over towards the window.

“Phone has a timer duh,” I pulled my phone out of my purse and pulled up the clock app.

“Tell me when to start,” He said standing next to the window. I got the stopwatch ready.

“Okay, 3, 2, 1, Go!” I pressed start just as I said go. I watched the seconds go up slowly as I wait.

“Back!” Gerard yelled, stumbling into the room. I pressed stop the moment I heard him. 

“Holy shit! That took you 33 seconds!” I said turning my phone around to him as he came back to the couch. 

“Daamn so what does that mean?” He said, flopping down next to me.

I laughed and looked at him half laying next to me with his butt at the edge of the couch. “It means you can run a mile in like 16 seconds.” Gerard’s eyes got wide at that, realizing just how fast he runs.

“Damn. I’m like the Flash but real,” He said, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing hard at that.

“Gee you’re a vampire! You’re more than just the flash!” I laughed leaning back against the arm rest so I could face Gerard better.    


“Riiight,” He said slowly and looked over at me from his comfy position. “Uh any other vampire questions?”

“Hmm,” I looked around the room. “So how much human food can you eat? Obviously you had dinner with me tonight but do you have to like, wait before you can eat again?”

“I think it takes a few days. Like I could eat a whole day's worth of food, all the meals,” He started and sat up better, his shoulder brushing my knee that was up in front of me. “And then I would be good for like a week almost. No like hunger,” He gave me a look to convey he meant blood not just normal food. “But I wouldn’t be able to eat any more normal food until I like went out and… uh, hunted. My body can’t process only food it needs the other too.” Gerard tried not to say blood, but it was fine he even said he didn’t go for humans like two weeks ago. 

“Interesting,” I said, not knowing how else to respond. The sun was going down now, the whole warehouse was orange. It was nice.

“What’s your favorite?” I looked back at Gerard. He just looked confused,  _ I didn’t finish the question cause I don’t want you to be weird about eating animals. _

“Um, deer?” He said it like a question avoiding eye contact with me.

“Yes?" I said trying to lighten the mood, Gerard just looked confused and worried I think. "You know I’m not weirded out by this right?” I reached my hand out and rested it on his shoulder, trying to comfort him from feeling like he's a monster or something.

“Are you, are you sure?” He looks me in the eyes. His eyes hold so much worry and sadness, it makes me want to hug him. 

“Of course,” I nod at him. “If it bothered me or scared me I wouldn’t be here.”

“But you should be scared!” Gerard sat up and leaned forward against my legs with a hand on my knee. I jolted at the quick movement.

“Why?”  _ I’m not afraid of the boy who failed classes to stay back a year and be closer to his little brother. I’m not scared of the boy who loans comic books and beats up bully’s. _

“Cause I could hurt you,” Gerard said quietly, still holding eye contact.

“So could Mikey,” I placed my hand on his that rested on my knee, “so could a random stranger on the street. I’m not scared of you Gerard.” He searched my eyes, as if to see if I was lying to him before a sigh escaped his lips. 

“I… fine,” he looked down, “Just please understand that I’m dangerous, more than a normal human.” 

“I know,” I said squeezing his hand a little.  _ He’s dangerous but I’m not afraid _ .

“Okay,” He said looking at our hands. I don’t pull away though, I want him to know I mean it and I’m here for him. “Okay.”

We stay like that for a moment before Gerard’s phone buzzes and he moves his hand to pick it up. 

“Uh Mikey said that their movie is about to start and should be done in 2 hours,” Gerard said looking at his phone, resting an elbow on my knee and leaning against me.

“Cool,” I looked around the darkening warehouse. “Do you have a light or anything, it's getting dark.” 

“Uh yeah, hang on.” Gerard got up and grabbed a small electric lantern from one of the tables and turned it on while he walked back. He placed the lantern on the crate in front of us and sat back down next to me.

“Cool.” 

Gerard laughed, “I didn’t know how to control the night vision stuff in the beginning, figured I should get a light in here in case.” 

I laughed lightly, “Makes sense. So what do you wanna do for the next two hours?” 

“Umm I don’t know, I didn’t. I didn’t really plan this far ahead.” Gerard let out an awkward chuckle. I couldn’t help but laugh too. “I have some comics here if you want to read them. Or we could like actually go to the comic shop.” 

“Hmmm.. the comic shop party did sound fun.” I offered. 

“It does, I was kinda disappointed we weren’t gonna go.” He looked down at his hands smiling.

“Me too! Okay, we  _ gotta  _ go now. But like later. What kind of fun thing could we do here, other than read comics,” I looked around the darkened warehouse. 

“Uh I don’t know, we can explore if you want? Or like play hide and see”

“Oo! That would be cool, we could test your senses.” I wiggled in my seat.

“Y/n, I do that when I have to eat.”

“Yeah but those are animals, I’m like an actual person who thinks differently. Not just like instincts.” I shrug. Gerard just looked at me for a moment.

“I clearly have the advantage here but I’ll give you 30 seconds to hide.” I smiled mischievously and jumped up from the couch. 

“Are you counting out loud or…?” I looked down at him. And he just smiled.  _ Shit.  _

I dropped my bag on the couch and left the sweatshirt, turned and started moving away from him toward the back of the warehouse. I looked from side to side as I made my way through the boxes. I couldn’t see Gerard anymore but I could see an open door. I went straight for it and saw it was like an office. I saw some boxes by the shattered window and walked as quietly as I could to them sitting behind them, I forced myself in the small space against the wall at the back of the stack. I put a hand over my mouth to still my breathing and make sure my heart beat would calm the heck down. 

“I’m coming!” I heard Gerard yell, it was pretty faint though where I was. I took in a slow deep breath to still my heart more.  _ Is he going to use his night vision? I could barely even see getting over here. Is night vision even cheating at this point?  _ I could hear some movement in the hall but the faded light was making me see things so I just closed my eyes and listened. The sound of shoes was close but I couldn’t tell where. I moved my hand off my mouth and put it on my knee since there was no space next to me to put it. 

“I’m gonna find you,” Gerard said. He sounded closer but not in the room with me. I could feel my heart speed up a bit though at his words.  _ It feels like a high stakes game of hide and seek. I wonder how long it's been. _

A creak was made near me and I knew Gerard was in the room. I could hear the soft press of his shoes like he was trying to be quiet. 

“Found you bunny,” He said in front of me. I opened my eyes and could barely see that Gerard was right in front of me, squished into the small space between the wall and the crate.

“I’m not a bunny.” I said with a frown.

“Could’ve… could’ve fooled me.” In the darkness it was hard to see all behind Gerard but I could see his face clearly. He was looking slightly down and when I looked down I realized how much of my neck and chest was exposed in my tank top. When I looked back up I met Gerard’s eyes and his face turned dark and he looked away. I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t uh, I wasn’t looking. I was using smell to, to find you. And you’re neck uh.” 

“I-it’s fine. Sorry. I should’ve worn a different shirt.” Gerard leaned away from me and stood up.

“Don’t, don't apologize. It's a me problem not you,” He looked down and away from me.

“You aren’t alone anymore Gerard,” I said getting up too. “I should’ve known better.” 

“You’re fine. I’m sorry.” He looked at the ground between us. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and placing my hand on his arm.

“Don’t apologize.” I said, looking into his eyes.  _ This moment is really tense. Uhh what do I do? _ “Uh you’re gonna have to lead me back, I can’t see shit.” I tried looking into the dark room.

“Right, uh here.” Gerard offered his hand to me. I took it and he started walking away from my hiding spot and back towards the main area and the couch. 

“Well, uh Mikey and Kirsten still got a while for their movie. Do you want to head to the comic shop?” I asked as we got back to the couch. 

“Heck yeah.” Gerard said letting go of my hand. 

“Cool,” I said grabbing Gerard’s sweatshirt and pulling it on. Gerard chuckled and grabbed his phone.

“Okay, let me get you outside and then I’m going to come back and turn the lamp off.” The sun has been set for a while now so outside was looking pretty blue and dark. I grabbed my bag and we went back over to the window and he got out first. Then I sat on the window sill and threw my legs to the otherside. Gerard stands right next to me just in case I fall. As I drop down from the ledge I realize its farther than I thought and stumble slightly as I land. Gerard’s arms were around me in an instant, catching me from falling too much. I steady myself and place a hand on his bicep. 

“Th-thanks,” I said looking up at him,  _ our faces are closer than I thought they were gonna be. Ohhhh gosh.  _

“Uh, yeah, no problem.” he mumbles helping me stand before dashing inside and turning the light off. He was at my side a moment later. We stood there awkwardly in the dark for a moment. 

“Um, you can totally say no to this. But uh, I could give you a piggyback ride back to the car. I mean we could get there way faster considering it's dark and I have night vision and speed and yeah,” He looked away awkwardly.

“Oh uh, yeah I guess. But I might be a bit heavy for you.” Gerard turned and looked at me.

“I have super strength. Guaranteed you will weigh like nothing.” 

“Right, um okay then.” I stepped away from Gerard awkwardly as he bent down in front of me.  _ Wow we really are just jumping into this friendship thing. I don’t think anyone has given me a piggyback ride in years. Let alone me letting anyone I know now even try to give me one. The trust I'm giving him, he will never even know. Not to mention the awkward not staring at my boobs but also probably doing that cause he’s a boy, from earlier. We really are just skipping straight to the ride or die business part of being friends I guess. _

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck.  _ Oh geez, I don’t even remember how this works. Or how close we have to be. _ I pressed my chest against his back as I got closer. It’s so awkward. 

“Okay uh, when I count to three jump and I’ll grab your legs.” I hummed in response. “Okay, one, two, three.” I hopped and kicked my legs forward and Gerard’s hands caught my thighs easily before he stood up.

“Okay you ready?”

“Nope,” I said tightening my arms around his neck, “this is absolutely terrifying. I never let people lift me up.” 

“Well, I promise I wont drop you. Also I will run slower.” 

“Mm-hmm” I said, pressing my face into the crook of my arm and Gerard’s neck.

“Ready?” 

“Sure.” I said quietly. Gerard chuckled at my response but took off nonetheless. I could feel the wind going by us but didn’t dare look up. The wind got lighter before it felt like Gerard was just strolling. I peeked from my spot and noticed that Gerard was walking through the Walmart parking lot up to the car. I moved my head so I wasn’t pressed against Gerard anymore and loosened my grip on him. As he walked up the car Gerard didn’t say anything or make a move to let me down.

“Okay we’re here,” Gerard finally said as he stopped at the passenger side door. He let me down gently and my legs felt like jello.  _ I think my legs tensed up too, I was so scared _ . I put my hand against the car to steady myself before finally opening the door and getting in. Gerard waited for me to open my door before he went to his own side and got in after me. 

“You ready for the comic shop?” 

“Hell yeah,” I smiled at him. I felt nervous but also like we trust each other more than anyone else right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So theres this one and then next chap is a part of it, its a short one. After chap 13, I'm going to be posting two chapters every friday simply cause I think I'm ahead of myself enough to be able to do so. So like next week I'll post two chaps. And see where it goes from there XD


	13. Comic Shop Date

We headed back towards the mall but turned into a smaller center where our local comic shop was. It looked like it was decently filled with people, there were even people outside hanging out. Gerard pulled up a few stores down since there wasn’t any space in front of the shop. We got out of the car and went straight inside, ignoring the younger kids and some adults who were outside . 

“Oh man you think they have cookies?” I asked as we stepped into the warm shop.

“Oh! I fricken hope so!” Gerard said next to me, jumping to the side slightly to pass someone who was walking out. I laughed and walked past the register area and straight towards the back where I knew they were probably hiding the food. The sounds of Muse over the old speakers made everything feel otherworldly. Especially after the warehouse. As we got closer to the food I noticed a familiar looking aphro and a short little asshole. 

“Hey there you guys are!” Frank said loudly as we got closer to the table. I waved at them and glanced at Gerard, he had a look on his face that said  _ the fuck _ which is exactly how I was feeling.

“We were wondering if you guys were going to actually show or if we missed you,” Ray said as I leaned in to give him a hug. 

“Nah we just went and got dinner and then we walked around for a while.” Gerard said fistbumping Frank and Ray. 

“OOOoooo! Just the two of you?” Frank asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Uh yeah, that’s how hanging out works?” I said rolling my eyes and reaching for a cookie off the table next to Ray. I feel a bit defensive about the comment but I’m not sure why. 

“Sure sure,” Frank said elbowing Gerard in the ribs.

“Yeah so you and Ray were just hanging out by yourselves this whole time? Aloooone?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.  _ Ah yes, the whole two people of the opposite gender can’t hang out without it being a date deal, ugghhh. _

“What? That’s different!” Frank whined.

“Yeah? How?” I crossed my arms giving him my best  _ I’m not impressed  _ look.

“Eh, she’s got a point.” Ray said next to me. 

“What! How?!” Frank said stepping away from the table so someone else could grab food.

“Uh we could have easily been making out like you're implying they did?” Ray said laughing. “And we didn’t, nor are they suggesting we did cause we’re friends. And since they are friends too its dumb to suggest that they were making out.”  _ Ray coming in for the rescue! He always knows what I’m thinking when it comes to stupid gendered shit. _

“Also, you're only saying that cause Gerard is a boy and I’m a girl. Same reason Mrs. Way makes Mikey and I keep the door open when we have sleepovers.” I said around a bit of my cookie. Gerard just kinda nodded along, he seemed a bit off. Maybe it's all the food we ate. 

“She’s got you there,” Ray said, grabbing a brownie from the table.

“Ughh whatever. You guys are no fun.” Frank said pouting.

“Well how's the party been?” Gerard said changing the subject. 

“It’s been pretty good! Lots of people buying comics, which is good for the shop. There was pizza earlier too.” Ray said.

“Cool. Imma go hunt for some comics then. See you guys in a bit.” I said before walking towards the giant bins of old comics to look for some that I might want to add to my collection. The boys were still talking by the table before heading over to some other comic bins and looking too.  _ I’m going to let the boys have some boy time. I don’t want Gerard thinking he has to stay with me the whole time. It’s not like this is a date or anything. It's just us hanging out and keeping secrets from all our friends. LOL. Plus I can get real annoying and honestly I don’t want him getting sick of me just yet. _

We spent another hour hanging out and talking comics together before Mikey texted that he and Kristin were done with the movie. We said our goodbyes and hopped back into his car. We rode in comfortable silence listening to Greenday.

“I had fun tonight,” Gerard said quietly as we pulled into the parking lot of the mall.

“Me too. We should hang out more often.” I said looking out the window to hide the smile I had. 

“Yeah.” It sounded like Gerard was smiling too. We pulled up to the curb and saw Mikey and Kristin standing outside waiting for us. 

“Did you guys have fun?” I asked as they got into the car.

“Yeah the movie was pretty good,” Kirstin said buckling up.

“Yeah but the food could have been better.” Mikey stated.

“Where did you guys eat?” Gerard asked as he pulled away and started to leave the mall. 

“Some new burger place. It was alright. What about you guys? Where did you go eat?” Kristin asked.

“We went to a cute 50’s diner. And we also had burgers like you guys. But ours were pretty good. Right Gee?” I said smiling at him.

“Yeah they were!” He chuckled. Mikey and Kristin told us about the movie they saw on the rest of the drive home. We dropped off Kristin and then the boys dropped me off. I felt pretty good when I said goodbye to them. Like friendships can make you feel so warm inside.  _ I can’t wait to hang out with Gerard again. Or just everyone. Having friend hangouts is going to be so much better now that Gerard and I are friends again. Everything feels so right.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters for the price of 1 this week! 13 and 14 up!   
> HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY LOSERS! hahahhahah


	14. What is Normal?

_ Everything feels wrong. Well school specifically. School feels different again. Well, not actually again. Last week I felt off. Now it's school that feels off. Like I’m not supposed to be here. I just had a supernatural experience with my best friend’s older brother who is a vampire, and now I’m back to this normal ass boring routine that is school? That’s messed up.  _

I sit at the dining room table staring into space as I realize how all the normal things in life are now boring.  _ Gerard could be half way across the world in like an hour yet he’s here finishing up high school with me. He could be out committing vigilante justice yet he is so soft and just hangs with his friends and his brother. Everything is so different now. I wonder if Gerard would ever consider turning his brother too, or anyone else really?  _ A car horn disrupts my thoughts and I get up mechanically, grab my backpack and head out to the Way’s car. 

“Hey boys,” I greet as I get in the car.

“Hey Y/n,” Gerard says from the driver's seat.

“Hey,” Mikey mumbles. His nose in a comic book. 

“I don’t understand how you can read in a moving car, Mikes.” I say as we pull away from my house. 

“It’s not too bad.” He replies not even bothering to look away from the comic. We ride the rest of the way to school in silence.  _ I feel awkward in the back seat. Especially after having sat next to Gerard on Friday. _ Getting to school we all head to our lockers in silence. I wonder if they feel the weirdness too. But the silence goes away once Frank and Ray show up. Well the silence with them. I don’t really say much or add to the conversation. It feels wrong to be here at school now.  _ Is this how Bella felt after Edward dumped her and she had to go back to a normal life with no vampires? It all feels so weird and almost pointless. Like without the incredible fantasy world, why even bother with normal life? _

Gerard and I head to English when the time comes and just sit awkwardly next to each other. 

“Is everything alright, Y/n?” Gerard asks quietly, leaning over to me.

“Uhh yea…. And no.” I turn to face him better, leaning in as well. “Isn’t this weird? Like you are… ya know. And that’s like fucking supernatural and here we are in class? Like its a regular fucking day and you aren’t actually magic?” I said slightly frustrated with the whole situation. 

“Uh well, I’m not magic,” Gerard said with a smile and laughter in his eyes.

“You know what I hecking mean Gee.” I said punching his arm.

“Ow,” He pouted at me but I just glared. “Alright, I get it. It’s weird for you cause it's new to you. I’ve been living this for months now. I’m just trying to be normal and act like I’m not different.”

“But you are and it’s so cool!” Gerard glared at me, “Okay so like not cool for you, but like totally magical and unbelievable and how are you even real kind of cool.” I said. 

“Are you two flirting?” 

“Fuck off Jeremy,” I turn to the boy sitting two seats in front of me, flipping him off with out missing a beat.

“Sorry, geez” He turned away with his hands up trying to make peace. 

I roll my eyes and turn back to Gerard who was looking down at his desk, his hair covering his face. 

“Uh maybe we shouldn’t talk about this at school,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, you’re, you’re right.” I turned back and looked at my books.  _ Way to go Jeremy, making us feel awkward as fuck now.  _ I glance over at Gerard but he’s on his phone now as we wait for class to start.  _ Why did Jeremy have to go and pull the flirting card. Can’t a boy and a girl just be friends? Ughhhhh. _

The rest of class went by normally, Gerard and I walked together to choir after our second class. It wasn’t awkward which was nice. Whatever fuckin Jeremy did that made us awkward as fuck finally wore off. After choir Gerard walked me to Math where we met Mikey outside and chatted for a bit before Gee left us for Art. 

“So... You and Gee are getting along pretty well.” Mikey said as we sat down. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.” I smile at him as I take out my stuff. 

“That’s good. I’m glad my two best friends are finally getting along again.” 

I laugh, “Yeah it's nice.” Math went by pretty quick which was nice. Lunch came and Mikey left me to go sit with Gerard, Ray and Frank. I walked the opposite way to sit with Kristin and the gravity prone boys, well Patrick specifically falls a lot so he wants to tie that into their band name once they finally have more than 4 songs. 

“Hey loser!” Pete yelled at me, I just flipped him off. 

“Hey friends,” I said, taking a seat next to Patrick and Kristin. We all chat for a little while about school before Pete asks about our weekend. 

“Oh Mikey and I saw a movie and got dinner,” Kristin offered.

“OOOOOOOOooooo!!!” Patrick started and leaned over me to give Kristin a look.

“It wasn’t a date Patrick, relax.” She said looking away blushing. 

“It’s true, but it definitely felt like one since Gerard and I dropped them off at the mall. Annnd cause Gerard and all of us kind of forced them to hang out. ” I laughed, bumping my shoulder against Kristin’s. 

“You and Gerard are hanging out on the weekend now?” Pete raised an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah, we are actually friends again Pete.” I rolled my eyes.

“Interesting.” Pete stroked his chin like he had a beard. 

“That’s cool, bet Mikey is happy.” Andy said not looking up from his phone. 

“Yeah, he is.” 

“Are you happy about it?” Patrick asked. I looked at him a bit confused.

“Yeah….. I am. It’s nice. Like old times.” I shrugged and went back to eating. 

“Yeah they went to the comic shop on Friday. They're just being nerds together again.” Kristin giggled.

“Cute,” Pete said grabbing a rice crispy treat from Joe’s lunch. 

“Why dude? Why?” Joe said, pulling another one out of his backpack.

“What the fuck?” Patrick and I said as we watched Joe get a second treat.

“I come prepared now,” He shrugged, holding the treat away from Pete so he couldn’t snatch it from him. We all ended up laughing at Joe but mostly Pete cause Pete was still trying to get the other rice crispy treat from him.

The rest of the day went by normally.  _ I guess I didn’t need to feel like school was off. It doesn’t feel wrong but it also seems so mundane now. I guess that’s how Gerard has always felt. Except he just wants to fit in and not be magical, whereas I welcome the magic so I’m not stuck with this normal boring human life.  _


	15. Sneaking Around

Today feels a lot more normal. After my talk with Gerard yesterday it feels more okay. This week is a short week, no school on friday! That means I get to hang with Mikey and maybe even Kristin too! 

The boys picked me up like normal and everything felt good. Even English, Gov and Choir went well. Math was another story. So boring and I want to cry. The bell eventually rang though and I could not wait to leave and go to lunch with Mikey.

“Hey since we don’t have school Friday, you want to have a sleepover?” Mikey asked as we left math.

“Sure that sounds like fun. I’ll ask my mom when she gets home tonight.” I said as we walked to our lockers.

“Cool, cause then we can hang out all day Friday.” 

“ _ Hell yeah _ ,” I went to give Mikey a fist bump as we reached our lockers, but Frank decided to run right towards us and into my fist. 

“Fuuuuuuck,” Frank groaned clutching his chest.

“Not my fault,” I said putting my hands up to show I had nothing to do with that. Mikey on the other hand was laughing hard and clutching his sides. 

“The hell happened here?” Ray asked as he and Gerard walked over to us.

“Frank ran into my fist.” I deadpanned, trying not to laugh as well. Ray and Gerard looked from Frank in pain to Mikey laughing.

“Sounds reasonable but also sounds like you trying not to get in trouble for punching him, tough girl.” Gerard said, chuckling at the end. 

“Legit, it was not my fault.” I said laughing slightly. Ray just shook his head and checked on Frank, who was actually fine and just being a dramatic dummy. Mikey eventually got his laughing under control and we went off to lunch and waved bye to the other boys. The rest of the day went by pretty easy. 

That Night

I sit at my desk trying to get the dumb math homework done quickly so I can go the heck to bed when my phone goes off.

_ Blood Sucker: _ You wanna hang out tonight?

_ Victim #1 _ : Sure. I fucking hate math.

_ Tap Tap _

I look up from my phone and see Gerard smiling at me through my window. I get up from the chair and kneel on my bed to open it up.  _ Good thing I changed out of shorts and put on leggings. Way more comfy than us hanging out with me in my pjs. _

“Hey, that was fast.”

Gerard laughed, “Yeah well I was bored. So do you want to go get ice cream or something?” He asked, leaning his elbows on my window sill. I couldn’t help but laugh at him, he looked so innocent despite him currently standing on a small ledge and leaning against my second story window.

“Sure! Why not?” I adjusted myself to sit on my bed in front of him. “The question is though, how do you plan on getting me out of my house?” 

Gerard pulled a face, “Well, you could either ask for permission. Orrrr I could come in and you can climb on my back and I can dash out of your house effectively sneaking you out.” He smiled at me. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on my face as I looked at him.

“Okay well my dad is gonna say no cause it’s a school night soooo,” I smirked and jumped off my bed to give him room. Gerard chuckled and climbed in letting himself fall onto my bed.

“So not too scared for another piggyback ride after the last one?” He asked as he got up off my bed. 

“Haha no, it's kinda like real life  _ Twilight _ .” I said with as straight of a face as I could muster. Gerard just glared back at me.

“You compare me to a sparkling emo boy who doesn’t know how to communicate his feelings one more time! And I will never help you sneak out of your house or in English class ever again.” He pointed a finger at me as he tried not to crack a smile. 

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing and tried not to double over with laughter, “I was just joking Gerard, relax.” 

“Fine but I’m not helping you up for a piggyback ride today.” He said crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes and just climbed up on my bed. Reaching out for him, he chuckled and moved so his back was facing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and got lower on my bed so it was easier to wrap my legs around his waist. 

“Alright you ready to go tough girl?” He said grabbing onto my legs. 

“Yeah but first two questions,” I adjusted my arms so I wasn’t strangling him. “How are you getting me out of the house? The window or the back door?” 

“Um, the window is a little small for both of us. Also, that’s a far drop for you and I don’t think you’re ready for that.” I hummed in agreement. “So I’ll head out the back door downstairs. What’s your other question?” He adjusted me slightly, making me bounce.

I smirked next to his ear as I whispered, “Do you sparkle in the sun?” 

“ _ Oh _ my god,” he groaned. Without warning Gerard started moving, I couldn’t close my eyes fast enough before everything became a blur and I was vaguely aware that we were going down. I held onto him tighter as the wind whipped through my hair. 

“Good thing you can’t choke me cause  _ damn _ ! You are fucking strong Y/n!” Gerard laughed, I could feel him slowing down but no way in hell was I opening my eyes yet. 

“You want to get down now? We’re like a five minute walk from the ice cream place.” Gerard said. I could feel that he had stopped running but man, the adrenaline and fear made my arms and legs so tense again. I let out a shaky breath and opened my eyes. We were around the corner of a shop and I could see one of the main streets of town from where Gerard had stopped. I unhooked my feet from themselves at Gerard’s stomach and he slowly bent down to let my feet hit the floor as he let go of my legs. I took my arms off from his neck and shook them out trying to release the tension they held.

“One day, one day I will get used to that.” I said, more to myself than to Gerard but he laughed anyway. 

“I have no idea what that must feel like for you,” He chuckled. 

“It’s insane.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Come on,” He started towards the dark lamplight street. I walked slowly next to him, my legs feeling a bit like jello. 

“Oh are we getting ice cream from Nemo’s?” I looked around the semi-empty street noticing the record shop Gerard works at and the comic shop we had gone to last week. 

“Uh duh! It's the best ice cream in town!”

“You got that right!” My legs were feeling a bit better the more we walked, it only took like a minute for us to get to Nemo’s anyway. Coming to the front of the store, Gerard opened the door for me. Stepping in, the cold air conditioning blew on my face and moved my hair.  _ Wait. My hair must look like shit from Gerard running. _ I glance into the giant mirror on the sidewall, my hair looks a little messy but not too crazy.  _ Can’t believe Gerard was going to let me walk around with hair like this!  _ I ran my fingers through it a few times as we walked up to the counter, just to make it a little less wild. 

“Hi welcome to Nemo’s, what can I get you two?” The lady behind the counter started. 

“Yeah I’ll get two scoops of mocha please.” Gerard said. The lady nodded and started getting his ice cream ready. 

“What about you cutie?” She asked, handing Gerard his ice cream.

“Can I have two scoops of (favorite flavor).” I said stuffing my hands in my pants side pockets. 

“Sure thing,” she went and grabbed a cup and started getting mine too. 

Gerard looked down at me as he started eating his ice cream. “You want to try?” He offered me his spoon.  _ Oh my god. Is this okay? We’re friends now yeah? This is fine. This is normal. Mikey and I would do the same thing. This is totally fine. _

“Sure,” I reach for his spoon and take a small bit of his mocha ice cream. It's sweet but definitely coffee. “Tastes like coffee and not enough chocolate,” I chuckle.

“Of course it does. It’s mocha flavored,” He laughs taking the spoon back. 

“Here you go sweetheart,” The lady says handing me my ice cream. “That will be 6 dollars total.” She walks over to the register. 

“Shit,” I whisper. Gerard raises an eyebrow at me. “I didn’t bring money.”

“I was gonna pay anyway.” He smiled down at me.

“Really?”

“Yup.” He said brushing past me towards the register. I just trailed behind him and watched as he paid. The lady said have a good night as we walked out and we told her the same. 

“Does your ice cream taste good?” Gerard asked as we walked away from the store and towards the record shop he works at. 

“Really good. You wanna taste?” I held out my ice cream to him with the spoon stuck in it. He seemed to hesitate but took my spoon and tasted the sweet ice cream.

“Hmm not bad. Not as good as mine though,” He laughed.

“Meanie,” I said bumping my shoulder into him as I laughed. 

“Only to you,” He said, sticking his tongue out at me.

I scoffed at him in a scandalized tone as I tried not to laugh. I couldn’t stop my smile though from giving me away and we both ended up laughing. We came upon the record store and Gerard opened the door for me. As we walked in we were engulfed in warmth and rock music. 

“Welcome to Music Madness.”

“Gerard? Y/n?” we turned to the voices and at the counter stood some girl and next to her was Patrick. 

“Hey Sage, hey Patrick.” Gerard greeted and walked towards them. I waved and joined Gerard. 

“What are you two doing here?” Patrick said. He was sitting on a stool in front of the counter. He’s either trying to flirt with Sage or they are actually friends. 

“Just hanging out,” I said. “We got some ice cream at Nemo’s too.” I took a bite of mine to show off a bit.

“Oh cool!” 

“Yeah, what are you doing here Patrick?” Gerard asked, eating some of his ice cream.

“Just hanging with Sage, maybe thinking of getting a job here. I mean Sage said she would put in a good word for me. But apparently  _ your  _ word is better than hers.” Patrick said, rolling his eyes and laughing. 

‘That’s true, I’ve been here longer. I’ll see what I can do for you, dude.” Gerard smiled at him.

“That would be great Gerard, thanks” Patrick smiled. 

“We’re gonna walk around and chill, talk to you guys later.” I said spotting some limited edition Pink Floyd vinyls that were gorgeous.

“Bye” Gerard waved and followed me away.

“See ya!” Patrick and Sage said. 

Gerard and I walked around the store looking at all the records. Gerard may work there but he definitely doesn’t get to look through them all leisurely. 

“Hmm,” Gerard hummed next to me.

“Hmm, what?” I picked up some pretty vinyls of some band I’ve never heard of, but outside said limited blue sky vinyl and I want to see that color.

“You got out of that conversation pretty quick,” Gerard chuckled lightly.

“Uhhh,” I looked back at Patrick and Sage who were deep in conversation, “ I got distracted by Pink Floyd vinyls.”

“So then why aren’t we looking at them?” Gerard said leaning against the table of records, the ice cream spoon was in his mouth and his eyes were playful.

“Weeelllll, I don’t have money for vinyls right now  _ obviously _ . Plus I looked at them…  _ briefly _ .” I turned my head away from him and took a bite of my ice cream.

“Ya know, I really wish I had mind reading abilities right now.” He took another bite of ice cream. 

I raised an eyebrow at him, urging him to go on. 

“You’re not telling me something,” he shrugged, as if everything was as simple as that.

“Well,” I paused for a moment, “I did wonder if seeing Patrick here would mess things up.” Gerard just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion so I continued. “We kind of snuck out Gee. Well you snuck me out of my house but still. We didn’t tell anyone we were hanging out. What if Patrick says something and then Mikey and the boys get suspicious.”

“Ohhh. Oh shit.” Gerard dropped his spoon into his cup, “I didn’t even think about that.” 

“Yeah, well it was kind of an after thought for me too.” I took Gerard’s empty cup and stacked it with mine, “After noticing the pretty vinyls.” I said turning towards the trash can that was a few feet away.

“Well, if Mikey asks…”

“What are you going to tell him?” I said walking back over. We were at the far end of the shop so neither of us worried about Patrick or Sage hearing.

“Fuck,” Gerard crossed his arms and looked down.   
“Yeah I know.” I leaned back against a table across from Gerard so that we were facing each other.

“I’ll lie. I guess,” he said dejectedly.

“Well, what if you told him the truth that we were hanging out?”

“He’s gonna ask when I left. And considering we are in town and my car is still home…”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah,” He shook his head. “Lying it is. There’s no way to explain the car still being home or why I didn’t tell Mikey in the first place we were gonna hang out.” 

“We could also ask Patrick not to tell?” Gerard looked up at me like I was a genius.

“That would be fucking perfect! Mikey has some test in history tomorrow so he’s probably not going to notice the car is missing anyway.” Gerard got up from leaning.

“Plus! We could say that we didn’t  _ want  _ him to feel left out just because  _ we  _ wanted to hang out and Patrick  **knows** how much we care about Mikey so he probably will believe it too!” 

“You are a genius!” Gerard said, pulling me in for a hug.

“Thanks,” I hugged him back for a bit. We stayed like that for a moment before we felt a bit awkward and pulled apart. “Uh let's go talk to Patrick, yeah?” I said brushing my hair aside. 

“Yeah, let’s uh, let’s go do that.” Gerard shifted and pulled on the bottom of his jacket. He turned and started heading towards the register and I followed behind him.

We talked to Patrick about not telling Mikey, he seemed a bit suspicious but promised he wouldn’t tell. It was definitely the ‘we care about him studying and don’t want him to feel left out’ bit that sealed the deal. Once we knew he wasn’t gonna spill we said goodbye and walked back the way we came. We passed the ice cream shop and crossed the street to head back down the alley way. 

“So, you ready for another ride?” Gerard chuckled and bumped his shoulder against mine. 

“Yeah, yeah. Just warn me before you start running this time ‘kay?” I bumped my shoulder back into him.

“Of course.” We reached the end of the alley and turned slightly so no one from the street would see. He walked over to a small box and I hopped on so that way I could get on his back easier. It was becoming easier and a bit less awkward but still weird.  _ I wonder how often I’m going to be getting piggy back rides from him. _

“Hey what’s that one line from Twilight that everyone makes fun of from the movie?” He asked, taking a few steps forward adjusting his hands on my thighs. 

“I swear to god if you ever call me a spider monkey I will physically harm you.” I said tightening my arms slightly around his neck.

“Got it, sugar.” 

I rolled my eyes and then promptly shut them as Gerard’s pace started to quicken. 

“I’m going to run now,” He said. I just hummed putting my head down against my arm. I could feel the wind rushing past us but since my eyes weren’t open it was a lot less dizzying. Before I knew it, we were back in my room. Gerard touched my arm with one of his hands as he let me know that I could open my eyes. I slowly relaxed my limbs and let go of him. Hopefully I’ll get used to that rush.

“Thanks for the ride,” I said sarcastically as I stretched out my arms.

“Any time,” he chuckled. 

“What are you going to do now?” I said looking back to where my abandoned homework was. 

“Probably play video games. What about you?”   
“I have to finish my evil math homework.” I groaned.

“Good luck with that, I’m out.” Gerard said moving to my open window. I couldn’t help but laugh. He climbed out and turned around as I climbed on my bed to shut my window.

“Is your window ever even locked?”   
“Hmm not for you.” I smiled at him.

“Cool.” He smiled back at me. “Good luck with your homework.”

“Thanks, have fun playing video games.” I said rolling my eyes playfully as I reached up to grab my window. 

“Bye Y/n.” He said climbing down the trellis slowly.

“Bye Gee,” I said waving at him before I closed my window. I turned around and leaned my back against my wall.  _ If life is going to be like this, I don’t mind keeping the vampire thing a secret. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay please, please know. That the part where after y'all hug and Gerard tugs at his jacket is not meant to be a horny thing. I realized as I was rereading the chapter before posting that it could be seen as that. It's really just meant to show his nervousness. Also how awkward it was for that long ass hug.  
> Gee did not get a hard on from that hug. T.T just wanted to make that clear in case y'all thought other wise.


	16. Sleepover

The next day at school Mikey was acting a bit weird with me, well in general. The car ride to school he was more quiet than normal, he wouldn’t even join in with Gerard and I’s obnoxious singing to Queen. During math he was just as silent. _ I can’t understand what the whole silent treatment is about?  _ Thankfully, after school was out and we were all hanging by the cars Mikey was back to himself and cracking jokes with me and the rest of the gang. It was still really weird.  _ I wonder if everything will be fine at our sleepover tomorrow.  _

~

_ Time skip brought to you by “the way Gerard pronounces Chicago with a CH sound instead of a SH sound” cause umm why???  _

~

I showed up at the Way’s house just before 6 because I knew Mikey and I would probably stay up late so may as well get the party started early! Surprisingly Mikey answered the door this time instead of Gerard, but then again he was waiting for me to show up. 

“Let’s go upstairs and chill, I have some new music I want to show you.” Mikey said as I walked inside. 

“Sure sure, is it band music or like stuff you’re learning on the bass?” I ask as we head to the stairs.

“Umm both?” Mikey chuckles.

We run up the stairs and lock ourselves away in his bedroom. Mikey shows me some new music from a band called Waterparks. They are actually pretty good. Especially 11:11 and Stupid for You. Then Mikey played some of his bass for me. He and the boys are trying to start a band, like a real band not just for school. Mikey has been practicing bass for months now trying to get especially good at it so he can play with Gerard in their own band. It’s really amazing how much effort and determination he has, especially since Gerard has been out of things because of the whole vampire thing. The band idea is very much alive though which is good. 

After talking about music for a while and potential cool band names that are actually just drug references, we figured it was time to get serious and battle each other in Mario Kart. As we came down stairs we saw that Gerard sat in the middle of the couch playing the wii, the wii console was reserved for the living room for everyone but the other game stations were in Gerard’s room. And occasionally the wii gets moved to Mikey’s room if we are having a sleepover. 

“Hey Gee, can you move? Y/n and I are gonna play Mario Kart.” Mikey said walking over to the cabinet where the wii games were held.

“Uh let me finish this round first.” Gerard said as he kept playing. I rolled my eyes and fell onto the couch, throwing myself across his lap.

“Hurry uuuuup. I wanna beat Mikey in Mario Kart.” I whined. Gerard didn’t even look down at me.

“Maybe if you didn’t talk I'd be finished sooner.”

“You’re just saying that cause you suck at this game.” I said as I moved off of Gerard.

“Alright tough girl, you’re just being mean cause you can’t even beat this level.” Gerard said as he finished the round.

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes and got settled into a corner of the couch. Gerard just stuck his tongue out at me before getting up and handing the controller to Mikey.

“Kick Y/n’s ass, Mikey.” He said walking away, giving me a smirk.

“Hey that’s rude!” I yelled, I almost threw a pillow at him but thought better of it. Gerard just chuckled as he headed down the hall to his room. 

“Huh,” Mikey hummed, grabbing another controller and sitting on the couch with me.

“Huh what?” I asked, reaching for the extra remote. 

“Just you guys being so friendly. I mean I’m used to it in the car but, do you guys like, hang out? More than just last friday?” 

“Well we have classes together Mikes, remember?” I look away from him and pretend to check my phone as if one of my parents texted me.  _ I hate lying to Mikey but, I have to. I promised I would never tell him, plus I can't say anything about Gerard and I hanging out a couple days ago. _

Mikey just hummed and got Mario Kart ready. We played for a while and Mikey was actually doing good. I still won the most. Who would have guessed that? Hahahaha. After a while we both got hungry and decided it was time to order some food. 

We walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table to look through all the take out menus the Way’s had stashed by the phone. We decided pizza would be our best bet and the one that would probably be delivered the fastest. As we decided what we wanted to order Gerard came into the kitchen and went over to the fridge. 

“Hey you hungry? Or are you good? We are going to order pizza.” I said, giving Gerard a look, meaning I was both talking about getting pizza but also if he had any blood lately.

“Uh yeah I’m fine.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah, I uh, ate a little while ago.” He said, grabbing a water out of the fridge.

“Okay cool.” I turned away from him and back to Mikey, “So what kind of pizza are you thinking of Mikes, cause I kind of want mushrooms on mine and spinach.”

Mikey looked from his brother to me, “I think I’m just going to get pepperoni tonight.” 

“That’s boring.” I said but dialed the number anyway and ordered two medium pizzas for us. Gerard left and went back down to his room. Mikey gave me a look as I ordered but I ignored it, well more like pretended I did not see it. 

The pizza arrived pretty quickly tonight, must not be busy since it's a Thursday. We ate and watched some Stranger Things before heading upstairs to get ready for bed. 

_ Cue the late night conversation. _

Mikey laid in his bed and I laid in my sleeping bag on the floor. We both vegged out in silence for a little bit before Mikey spoke up.

“So are all three of us going to hang out again like before?” 

“I hope so,” I looked up at Mikey’s dark ceiling. 

“Good,” I could hear the smile in Mikey’s voice.  _ I feel a bit bad though. I have to keep secrets from him and who knows how all three of us hanging out is going to be like.  _

“Maybe we can go do something together tomorrow.” he said quietly. 

“You mean today, Mikes?” I giggled. Mikey laughed too.

“Yeah today. What about seeing a movie or going to the skate park?” 

“Yeah, that would be fun.” We fell into silence again thinking about what we could do together, all three of us.

“Hey, Y/n.” Mikey whispered. I hear him shift on his bed and I turn to my side to look up at him.

“Yeah Mikey?” I ask as he looks down at me.

“You would tell me if something was going on between you and Gerard, right?” The eye contact Mikey gave was serious and trusting. 

“Of course Mikey. You’re my best friend,”  _ God this hurts. At least now I know how Gerard feels having to lie to all of us for so long.  _

Mikey just looked at me, searching for something. “Okay.”

I gave him a small smile, “You come first Mikes. Let’s head to bed though, that way we can have alllllll of tomorrow to hang out. The three of us.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He laid back down on his bed. “Night y/n/n.”

“Night Mikey.”


	17. Brunch

We woke up decently late the next morning, that's what we get for staying up till 3 in the morning. It was 11 which meant that it was too late for breakfast but just in time for brunch so we got dressed and went downstairs in search of Gerard and a ride to food.

“Hey Gee you down here?” Mikey asked as we made it to the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah Mikes?” He said walking towards us from his room.  _ He definitely used his super hearing to know we were gonna come down here looking for him _ .

“You wanna get brunch?”

“Isn’t it a little late for brunch?” Gerard chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

“Well it's too late for breakfast and a little early for lunch sooo,” I said rolling my eyes with a smile. 

“That's true, yeah sure. Where do you two want to go?” He laughed.

“How about Eggs ‘n Things?” Mikey suggested.

“Ohhhhh fuck yeah! I love their crepes!” I said pumping my fist. 

“Actually they’re swedish pancakes not crepes,” Mikey said. I could only give him an incredulous look while I tried to think of a way to politely tell him he’s dumb.

“Alright, Eggs ‘n Things it is.” Gerard nodded, heading past us towards the little table by the door to grab the car keys. Mikey and I followed him talking about whether they are crepes or swedish pancakes. And what exactly the difference is?? We interrupted the argument when we finally got to the car and both Mikey and I stopped at the passenger side door. We stood there for a hot second just looking at the door and at each other. I chuckled and headed for the back door.  _ Yiiiiikkkes. This is awkward. _

“Did you want the front seat?” Mikey asked as we got in the car, Gerard was already buckled up and ready to go in the driver's seat.

“Uh no, I’m not used to that,” I chuckle awkwardly. Part of that was honest but also… I did kind of want the front seat deep down. Mikey just laughed and so did Gerard. Mikey then decided to pick up on the Swedish Pancake versus Crepe debate. 

The ride to Eggs n Things was really fun, it felt like back in middle school where we would all talk over each other and laugh and be so loud that Mrs. Way would yell at us to be quiet. Eggs n Things itself is a cute diner that is like classy country themed, like blue and white walls and beautiful country scenes. No country music though, just chill pop and oldies. They are only open for breakfast and lunch and close at 2. It's packed every weekend but on weekdays you get lucky and maybe only need to wait two minutes for a table versus like 35 plus on the weekend. Since it's Friday it's only moderately busy, especially since it's near lunch time.

It took about 10 minutes to be seated but that's because there is some huge group taking up the side room. That is always so annoying! They sat us at a square table which was good because that meant no one needed to be awkward and pick who to sit next too. I just sat in one chair and Gerard sat to my left and Mikey plopped down on my right. 

I opened up the menu looking for the breakfast croissant sandwich when Mikey pulled the menu down and flipped a page, pointing to the specialty section.

“I fucking told you they were Swedish pancakes.” He said with a smug smile. Gerard laughed next to me while I just had my jaw dropped slightly at Mikey. 

I stared at him for a moment before closing my eyes and looking away from him, “I’m not talking to you now.” 

Gerard laughed so loud a few people turned to look at us, Mikey just chuckled next to me while I turned the page so the words “Swedish Pancakes” were no longer staring me in the face. 

When the waitress finally showed up we all ordered orange juice and our favorite foods from here. Brunch was really fun. It felt like old times, no awkwardness, just laughter and good times.

Brunch was awesome and it felt so nice to be able to be with Mikey and Gerard like we used to. After we finished and paid we went back to the Way house and all played Mario Kart together. Gerard and I absolutely destroyed Mikey, it was inevitable. Somehow Gerard did win 1st place overall and that was so frustrating! We played for a while but Mikey stopped having fun because he kept losing. It was a really nice day with my boys. I really hope we can all hang out again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, unlike the 50's diner I made up, Eggs n Things is a real place! I did think of a cute 50s diner in my town but like i aint naming that cause I don't think its a chain soo its a bit to specific. BUT! There are like 4 Eggs n Thing in California so I'm safe to name them.  
> All this means is that now you know I live in California and if you would like to be friends and bond over living in the same state, this is an invitation to do so! Also I just like making friends in general so if you wanna chat or have any suggestions for this story ooorrrr oneshots! Tell me about it!  
> Once i'm more than halfway through with this book I plan on writing some oneshots for MCR. I got like two in the works.


	18. Friends

School was going swell. Mikey was being a bit odd Monday but overall not too weird. More quiet than normal. Maybe something happened over the weekend after our sleep over? But like it probably doesn’t involve me soooo I ignored. Tuesday was a lot better, whatever he was going through must be better. Now its the middle of the week and we only have two days left till the weekend! Wednesday’s and Thursdays are shorter days by like an hour which is so nice, so the school day went by fast.

I head to my locker after school was finally done only to be pounced on by Patrick.

“Hey there ginger snap,” I said as Patrick let go of me. 

“Hey there cutie,” Patrick said, throwing his arm over my shoulders. 

“How did you day go?” I asked as we made our way to my locker.

“Eh could’ve been better. You?”

“Saaame.” I opened my locker and Patrick took his arm off me so I could get in my backpack.

“Hey dorks,” Mikey said, walking up to us.

“Hey!” Patrick and I said simultaneously. I chuckled and continued getting my things together for home.

“What’s up Mikey?” Patrick said leaning back against Ray’s locker that was next to mine. 

“Not much, just glad school is finally out.”

“Same,” I said, closing my locker. We talked a little as we waited for Mikey to get his things.

“Hey Y/n,” I turned and saw Ray and Kristin walking up to us. 

“Hey guys,” I smiled at them. 

“I have to take Kristin home but I forgot to tell Frank, so can you let him know when you see him that he needs to catch a ride or walk home today.”

“Sure, why are you leaving so fast?” I asked looking at Kristin.

“I’m getting my hair done, and my mom is gonna trim Ray’s hair too.”

“Oh cool, have fun with that.” 

“Ahh don’t tell me you’re getting rid of the awesome head banging hair!?” Patrick whined next to me.

“Hahah no just taking it down a little,” Ray smiled.

“Well thanks y/n, see you guys tomorrow!” Kristin said, Ray waved bye to all of us and then sped away towards the parking lot.

“Dude, Frank is gonna be shook when he finds out he has to walk home.” Patrick said next to me.

“I can’t wait,” I laughed. 

Mikey got his stuff ready and we started to head out of the school too. There were still a ton of people walking around and hanging out since school had gotten out less than five minutes ago. We bumped into some people as we walked out but most of them got out of our way. We may be nerds but at least the younger kids think we look scary so they move. 

We walked over to Gerard’s car and I hopped on the hood, sitting down and dropping my backpack next to me. Patrick and Mikey just stood in front of me as we talked about the new Batman animated show, but we all know it will never live up to Batman the Animated Series. 

“Any news on the progression of Sweet Poison?” Pete asked as he walked up to us at the cars. 

“None so far captain,” Patrick replied sarcastically. 

“So is anyone going to explain to me what ‘Sweet Poison’ is yet?” I asked from my place on the hood of Gerard’s car. 

“ _ Weelllllll _ ,” Pete started finally noticing me. “It started as a crack ship that we didn’t think would ever actually happen. But  _ now… _ ” He looked over to Patrick and Mikey. Mikey just looked away towards the school.

“Now, there might be a chance for it.” Patrick smirked at me.

“Am I ever allowed to know  _ who  _ it is?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the two.

“ **No** ,” Pete and Patrick said together. I groaned in response to them.

“What are  _ you  _ groaning about?” Gerard said as he and Frank made their way over to us. 

“They’re keeping secrets,” I whined, gesturing towards Patrick, Pete and Mikey. Gerard came and leaned against the hood next to me, opting to stand rather than sit on his car. I bumped my head on his shoulder in greeting.

“That’s shitty, can’t believe my little bro, your  _ best friend _ is keepin secrets from you.” 

“I know right!” I said loudly, sitting up and hitting Gerard lightly on the arm, making him laugh.

Mikey mumbled something I couldn’t make out, but Gerard’s laughter died out which probably means whatever he said wasn’t good. Patrick and Pete just started to talk about songs for their band and how sweet poison would be good ‘inspo’. 

“Well I’d love to know what Sweet Poison is but I also don’t care,” Frank said looking around the group. “Where the fuck is Ray and Kristin?” 

I laughed, “So observant Frankie. Ray took Kristin home as soon as school got out. She’s getting her haircut.”

“Cool, cool cool cool. Wait.” He paused and looked at all of us, “Then who the  _ fuck  _ am I supposed to go home with?!” Frank shouted. I couldn’t help but laugh, so did the others. 

“Good luck getting home Frank, we out!” Pete said, grabbing Patrick’s arm and running off to his car. Patrick and Pete laughing the whole way.

“I’ll give you a ride Frank, I mean. Unless you want to walk home?” Gerard said leaning towards Frank and resting his shoulder against my bent knees. 

“I will take the ride gladly, you sexy fucker.” Frank moved heading towards the back doors. “Now unlock the damn doors so I can go home already!” Frank said, pulling the handle repeatedly. We just laughed.

“Alright alright,” Gerard said, getting up off his car and pressing the unlock button on his keys. I hopped off the car and looked up at Mikey in front of me. He was giving me a weird look, when I went to return it with a raised eyebrow I realized how big my smile was. Which is probably what the look is for.  _ Fuck. I mean I’m just glad we’re friends again and that awkward tension is gone okay. Plus Frank is hilarious. It’s fine. This is fine.  _

I head to the back seat of the car feeling Mikey’s look on my back the whole time.  _ Geez, now I wish I was the mind reader. _ Getting in Frank already had stolen the aux to play some screaming music that he was currently into. Frank decides he doesn’t want to go home and he just wants to hang with us, so Gerard just drives all of us to the Way house.

Once we got there we all decided to not do our homework and instead play Mario Kart. After a while of Gerard and I competing for 1st place in every race cause Mikey and Frank were not on our level, we decided to actually get some homework done. Gerard went down stairs cause most of his homework was art while Frank, Mikey and I worked at the kitchen table. 

I finished mine way faster than the other two so I just hung out on my phone till Frank started groaning and let his head fall to the table.

“I want food.” Frank said into his English text book.

“Same,” Mikey said closing his book.

“Yeah, its dinner time dorks.” I put my phone down on the table.

“Let’s go get food.” Frank grumbled.

“Where?” I asked.

“Italian,” Frank said.

Mikey laughed, “That’s not a place Frank.”

I laughed too. “I’ll go get Gerard so he can drive us,” I got up from the table.

“Rad,” Frank said sitting up, part of his face red from hitting his book. I chuckled as I head out of the kitchen and towards the basement.

“Hey Gee,” I walked down the basement steps.

“Yeah what’s up?” He asked from the couch against the stairs. 

I looked down from the step over the railing at him. “The boys want to go get dinner, you want to come?”

“Sure,” He smiled up at me. He was up and next to me in a blink. “Where are we going?”

“Italian food is all Frank said. You can eat that right? You’re not allergic to garlic or anything like that, right?” I said smirking and trying to hold in my laughter.

Gerard just fixed me with a look. “I’m going to drop you some time, and you are never going to know when.”

“That’s mean!” I said laughing.

“That’s what you get.” He chuckled and turned to walk past me but I grabbed his arm first, remembering earlier at school.

“Hey uh, what did Mikey say earlier.”

“Um when exactly?” 

“At the car, when we were laughing. He said something and you stopped laughing. What was it?” I let go of his arm, not realizing I was still holding it.

“Oh,” Gerard looked down. “He said he wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.”

“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

Gerard sighed and looked up at me. “It was cause I said how could he be keeping a secret from you. Mikey said that he wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. Meaning he thinks something is up with us.”

“Oh, oh shit.” I whispered.

“Yeah,” He frowned.

“What should we do? It’s not like we can just tell him.”

“I know. Maybe we can come up with some kind of cover story.”

“Yeah, I’ll start thinking of one.”

“Me too. But lets uh head up stairs so he doesn't get more suspicious.” 

“Oh yeah,” I said. We both walked up the stairs to find Frank and Mikey waiting by the door.

“Took you long enough! What were you doing? Taking a shit or something?” Frank said loudly as we walked over to them. I could not stop myself from laughing at the unexpected comment, and neither could Mikey. 

“Oh my god Frank.” Gerard groaned. “I was playing a video game, chill out.” 

Mikey and I were still giggling though as we grabbed our shoes and went to the car. 

“So where are we going exactly?” Gerard asked as we all got settled in the car. 

“Fuckin, Luigi’s bitch. Where the fuck else would we go to get good Italian food?” Frank leaned forward trying to look at Gerard in the driver's seat, which was hard considering we were in the back seats and he was sitting behind Gerard. 

“Hahaha okay okay, geez” Gerard waved Frank off before pulling out of the driveway and heading to Luigi’s. 

Luigi’s was fun, all four of us together and hanging out. We surprisingly didn’t cause a ruckus but damn were Frank and I close to it. He influences the chaos in me, it's not good. I’m so glad I get to hang out with everyone like this. I guess Gerard’s vampire curse was a bit of a blessing for the friend group.

After dinner Gerard drove Frank home and then dropped me off at my house. My parents were watching some movie downstairs when I walked in so I said a quick “hello” before heading to the stairs.

“Oh honey, welcome back,” My mom said pausing the movie. “How was school? Were you at the Way’s this whole time?”

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, “Yeah we did our homework and then all four of us went out to dinner.”

“Oh did Mrs. Way take you guys?” my dad asked.

“Uh no. Gerard drove, it was just me, Mikey and Frank.” I said starting to walk up the stairs slowly.

“Oh that sounds nice dear, good night!” Mom said as I walked up the stairs.

“Night!” I yelled back down before heading into my room to crash for the night.


	19. Bonding Times

It’s been a little over a month since I found out about Gerard being a vampire. To “celebrate” our friendship and shared secret we decided to spend Saturday hanging out in the basement reading comic books like we used to back in middle school. 

We sat on his bed comfortably, I had my back against the wall toward the end of his bed and my legs stretched out in front of me while Gerard sat at the top of his bed with his back resting on his pillow. We had a pile of comics between us that we were reading from as we hung out in silence. It was a nice comfortable silence though, it wasn’t awkward at all which was great. After a while of reading Gerard broke the nice silence.

“Hey, Y/n, can you pass me that Batman book?” He said, kicking his feet up on the pillow next to me. 

“Only if you move your feet away from my face. Also, you know you can use my nickname right?” I grabbed the graphic novel that sat next to me and tossed it at him.

Gerard caught the book no problem. “Oh so nicknames are going to be a thing now?”

“Well, I have already called you Gee. It’s only fair.” I shrugged from my end of the bed. 

“Alright Pumpkin,” Gerard said sarcastically, finally moving his feet away from my face. I could feel my stomach tighten at the nick name.

“Ew don’t call me that. I meant my actual nickname, Y/n/n.” I threw the pillow his feet were just on at him, but I could feel my face go red. 

He laughed, catching the pillow but stopped when he looked at my face. “Oh my gosh. Are you blushing?” 

“No!  _ I’m not _ !” I said, putting my hands up to cover my face and looking away.

Gerard moved, kneeling on his bed coming closer to me. “Oh no no no,” He said, smirking evilly and grabbing my hands. “Oh my gosh! You really  _ are  _ blushing!” 

“Shut up!” I said trying to push him away.

He laughed getting closer to me. “Is little Y/n blushing because she likes to be called pumpkin?” He said teasingly. 

“Shut up!” I said pulling my hands away and pushing him, but this just freed his hands instead of mine and he went straight to my sides to start tickling me.

“Awww does tough little y/n want to be called pumpkin” Gerard said attacking my sides. I couldn’t stop the laughter spilling from my lips as I tried to push Gerard away.

“Gee stop!” I said through my laughter. He just went harder.

“Never!” He said adjusting his position so he could tickle me more and corner me in.

“S-stop! Gee!” I cried pushing him more.

“Admit you liked it! Admit it, tough girl!” He said through a smile and his own chuckles.

I couldn’t handle the fight anymore. I had to make it stop, “F-fine! It-It’s cute!” I said with tears in my eyes from laughing. 

“It is a cute nickname,” He says stopping his assault. “How mad would you be if I called you that in front of people?” He smiled as if knowing the answer.

“You better fucking not.” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. 

“Haha okay, I’ll save you the embarrassment and only tease you... sometimes.” He smirked down at me. I gave him a look that basically translates to  _ I’ll kill you _ . Gerard smirked and flexed his fingers against my sides in warning, I sucked in a breath trying not to let it tickle. Glancing down I realize just how close we were. 

My hands were resting against Gerard’s chest as he sat on my outstretched legs. His hands were on my sides and his face… I looked up into his eyes and I think he noticed how close we were too because his eyes had turned dark instead of their light hazel. He looked surprised and … shy? It could be an almost perfect moment for a… _What the fuck Y/n!_ _You can’t kiss your best friend’s brother._ Our faces were so close… we could just lean a little closer and…

“Hey Gerard!” Mikey yelled down the stairs. We both jumped and Gerard was back to the head of his bed in a moment, picking up a comic book. While I was left with a red face that was not from laughing. I picked up a comic from next to me. As Mikey ran down the stairs.

“Hey Gee can you take… Y/n? I… I didn’t know you were over.” Mikey said his eyes holding a hundred thoughts but his face saying he’s confused. I took a breath hoping my face was kinda going back to normal and not too red.

“Oh yeah, we were just hanging out and talking comics.” I said waving the comic slightly in my hand to show him, hoping he doesn’t notice my pink cheeks but to also hide my pink cheeks.

“Oh,” Mikey paused as if thinking about the logistics of us actually reading comics.  _ Which isn’t a good percentage considering what just happened…. _

“What were you gonna ask me?” Gerard says from the other end of the bed. He clearly composed himself way faster than me,  _ he looks fine but I can still feel warmth in my cheeks. I’m blaming that on his vampirism, time moves slower for him. _

“Uh yeah, I was going to ask if you could um, drive me to the mall to hang out with Pete.” Mikey said looking between the both of us.

“Pete can’t pick you up?” Gerard asks, his eyes narrowed slightly as if scrutinizing his brother for asking for a ride.

“Nah, he’s taking Patrick to an interview first.” 

“Oh cool, where at?” I asked trying to be my normal self instead of thinking about how close Gerard just was to me. 

“The record store, right?” Gerard said looking from me to Mikey.

“Yeah, he said you put in a good word for him.” Mikey was still standing at the bottom of the staircase, he made no move to come closer to us.

“Yeah I did. When are you meeting Pete at the mall?” 

“In like an hour,” Mikey said.

“Cool, I’ll take you. I mean if you're okay with that Y/n.” Gerard said looking at me. 

“Yeah that’s fine, we could even hang out at the mall too. But ya know not interrupt Mikey and Pete’s  _ date _ ,” I said smirking and giving Mikey a look. Mikey just gave me an  _ are you seriou _ s look back. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah that’ll be cool. Heck we could even interrupt their date and bother them.” Gerard said, shifting on the bed and nudging me with his foot. 

“You are the worst. Why did I think you two hanging out was a good idea?” Mikey said turning away and going back up the stairs.

“It’s cause we’re your best friends!” I yelled at him as he walked away, he flipped us both off before leaving the basement. We chuckled as he closed the door. 

“The mall will be fun,” Gerard said next to me.  _ Changing the subject from earlier… or at least not talking about the thing. That's fine. _

“Yeah, I haven’t gone window shopping in awhile.” I said looking down at the comic in my hands.

“Uh don’t you mean normal shopping?” 

I looked at Gerard, “Do I  _ look  _ like I have money to spend?” I laughed, ruining the serious look I had.

“Alright guess I gotta buy you shit then.” Gerard said putting the comic down and getting up off the bed.

“The fuck you don’t,” I said crossing my arms.

“You just said you don’t have money!” Gerard said walking to his closet.

“Yeah but uhh don’t buy me shit. Save your money.” I said. 

“Alright, uhh what about food?” Gerard said looking through his closet for actual jeans. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I guess.”

“Kay,” He grabbed a pair of jeans and went to the bathroom to change, leaving me reeling.  _ Kay so we just almost kissed, now he’s offering to buy me shit. Are we dating? No.  _ **_No_ ** _. No one has said the word date. I think this is just how Gerard is with his friends. Yeah. Except the whole almost kissing part, but maybe that was just in my mind. He did compose himself super fast. Why am I even thinking about kissing him?? The fuck! I don’t even like him like that! Damn being a teen!  _ I immediately text Ray.

Singer: DOes Gerard usually buy his friends stuff??

Guitar God: Like random things? Or stuff you want? Food. Yes for sure.

Singer: stuff you want, random things. He already bought me food and said he would buy whatever food I want.

Guitar God: Yeah thats just Gee. He likes to spoil people. Don’t worry about it.

Singer: You sure Ray?

Guitar God: Yeah. He likes to take care of his friends. Trust me. 

Singer: Okay good.

“Who you texting?” Gerard asked, flopping on the bed with his jeans on. 

“Ray, I just wanted to ask him something about gov.” I lied as I read his messages.

Guitar God: lol did you think he was coming on to you? Was he flirting with you?!?!!!

Singer: Shut the fuck up! I was confused!

Guitar God: LOL! You’ll know if he’s flirting cause he’s an awkward bean. Also I will not tell you if he’s flirting. *finger guns*

Singer: ??!!! the heck does that mean?

Guitar God: luv you! Have fun getting spoiled like the rest of us!

Singer: Bitch

Guitar God: <3

Ray is like only kind of help. _ The fuck kind of cryptic ass messages. _

“Is Ray even helping you?” Gerard chuckles, I look up at him and realize the angry confused look I must have had.

“Yeah he’s just being funny and cryptic.” I end up laughing a bit at the end as I put my phone down. 

“Sounds more like Frank than Ray. But Ray does that too sometimes.” Gerard chuckled.  _ I think we are pretending the almost kissing didn’t happen. I’m cool with that. Way less awkward than acknowledging it. Plus that means it wasn’t actually almost kissing, right? God I need to stop thinking about it. _

“True,” I said, picking up the comic and went back to reading. We sat in silence reading our comics till Mikey came down to get the ride to the mall. Gerard and I put our shoes on and grabbed our stuff before heading up the stairs to head to the car. Hopping in the car I chose to sit in the back, I didn’t want Mikey being weird about me sitting in the front since I was caught hanging out with Gerard without him. It seemed a bit tense in the car, at least from my seat in the back. Mikey didn’t talk at all and just texted on his phone. Getting to the mall, we surprisingly got a decent spot and met up with Pete in the front. Mikey and Pete went off to go do whatever while Gerard and I headed to the food court for treats.


	20. Hide and Seek

Coming up to the small bakery that was in the mall, Gerard offered to buy me whatever I wanted from there. As much as I wanted to say no, they have the best fricken food. 

“I will only accept your money in the form of treats and not actual items,” I said pointing at him as we walk into the bakery. 

“Hahaha okay, tough girl.” Gerard put his hands up in surrender as we approached the glass case of treats. 

I inhale deeply and smile as the smell of warm bread and sweetness fills my lungs. I walk straight to where the classic baked goods are, the case with scones, mini pies, bars, and more. 

“Fuck yeah they have lemon bars!” I clasp my hands together in excitement.

Gerard laughs next to me. “Are they still your favorite?” 

“Yes!” I peer down into the case at the nice array of large lemon squares.

“You look like a witch deciding what child you are going to eat first.” Gerard says with laughter.

“Thank you, that is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” I look over my shoulder at him with a condescending smile as the bakery worker comes over to us. 

I order two lemon squares, so I can take one home with me, and Gerard orders coffee cake. This is not a surprise. We take a seat by the window and munch on our treats as we chat about comics. After a while we get up and decide to walk the mall and stretch our legs.

“Hey, how well does your nose work?” I look up at him as we walk.

Gerard laughs awkwardly, “What? What does that even  _ mean _ ?” 

“Haha the scent thing, ya know.” I give him a look.

“Ohhh,” he chuckles lightly. “I have absolutely no idea. Why?” 

I shrug, “Just wondering if you would be able to track down Mikey or I in such a crowded place.”

“Huh, I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Ooooohhhhh! Want to try it?” I turn to face him, stopping in the middle of the walk way.

“Sure, why not.” He shrugs, “Am I just going to try and track down Mikey?” He turns looking down at me.

“Hmm, how about we make it like hide and seek. That way we don’t bug Mikey. He seemed weird earlier anyway.” I say starting to walk again, ignoring the people giving us annoyed looks for having stopped. 

“Yeah I noticed that too. Maybe it’s just the shock of us hanging out without him.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I look around at the crowded mall.

“Hide and seek sounds good though. What should I do, count to ten?” He laughs at the end.

“No way! That is so not enough time for me to hide.” I look for a place to stop and notice we are at one end of the mall which was the perfect place to start. “How about you sit here,” I point to a bench outside Coffee Bean, “And like I don’t know, hang out for like 10 minutes. And I will go hide.” 

“Hmm alright. Am I allowed to get coffee?” He asks as we approach the bench.

“Will that make your seeking skills better?” I cross my arms and look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Mmmm,” he smiled cheekily, “maybe.”

“Then no.” 

“Hahah fine.” he took a seat in front of me. “Go hide  _ pumpkin _ . You’ve got 10 minutes.” 

I rolled my eyes at the new nickname and turned away trying to hide the blush on my face and hoping Gerard couldn’t hear my heart speed up a little. I walk away quickly hoping to get space between Gerard and myself. I check my phone to see the time so I know when he’ll start hunting me down. Instead of going straight down the mall, I switch which side I walk on and go into a few shops. One being a shoe store, then a makeup place next to Macy’s, I walk into the starbucks. At this time Gerard has probably started walking trying to find me, so I stay close to the crowd of people and head into the Hot Topic on the first floor. I wander around for a moment taking a quick peek, knowing Gee and I will come back in later when I end up running into Mikey and Pete.

“Oh hey Y/n,” I turn to see Pete and Mikey looking at band shirts and Tripp clothes. 

“Hey guys,” I smiled.

“Where's Gerard?” Mikey said looking around. 

“We are playing hide and seek,”  _ Why even bother to lie at this point? It makes sense. It’s a perfectly dumb thing that you two would definetely do. _ “You two  _ never  _ saw me.” I smirk moving past them.

“Okay you weirdo,” Pete said as I passed them. “Have fun.”

“Bye, I guess.” Mikey said. I could hear Pete laugh behind me and Mikey say something along the the lines of “What the fuck?” 

I laugh to myself and sneak back out of the store. I practically run to the other end of the mall now, I know Gerard is going to catch up to me soon. Hopefully I distracted him with seeing Mikey and Pete. Instead of taking the escalator outside the J.C. Penny, I head inside the store to catch a ride up stairs _. My final destination on the second floor is the Claire’s that’s in the mall. That is the last place Gerard would ever guess that I would be. _ I speed walk down the right side of the second floor walkway and only slow down a little as I pass the LUSH store because dang it always smells nice. As I walk past a few more stores I duck into the Claires that has way too many little kids in it.  _ Ughhh. _

I make my way past the kids waiting to get their ears pierced and head towards the back away from the windows. Ironically enough I usually buy my scrunchies and headbands from here because they are cheaper than anywhere else, so I may as well do my shopping while I’m here. I check my phone and its been almost 20 minutes since I left Gerard. The 10 minute head start came in handy, buuuut he’s only been on my tail for around 10 minutes and considering he has to walk and can’t use his vampire speed it may take him another 10 to get here. I put my phone away and start scanning the giant wall of hair accessories.  _ Maybe I should get some hair clips too, my hair keeps getting in my face when I’m in class.  _ I grab some cute hair clips in black and some in red, yellow and green that also have plaid ones with them. Claire’s sometimes comes in clutch for hair stuff. 

I hold the two packages of clips in my hand as I look over the wall to see what other accessories I might need. Suddenly a pair of hands are on my waist and a voice by my ear that whispers “boo”. I can’t stop the yelp that comes out of my mouth as I jump and nearly fall into the wall of hair accessories.

“Oh shit, sorry!” Gerard says grabbing my tighter, keeping me from falling into the wall of stuff.

“Oh my god! You scared the absolute shit out of me Gerard!” I whisper yell at him, hoping none of the kids hear me curse. He let’s go of me and tries to keep a composed face but I can tell he’s trying not to laugh. I just glare up at him, I must look funny being angry because he immediately loses it and starts laughing. 

“I’m so sorry,” He says between laughter. “I didn’t think I would scare you that bad.” He continues to laugh and unfortunately it's contagious and I end up laughing a bit too. Gerard reaches out and grabs me, pulling me into a hug as we laugh.  _ God we are so dumb. _

“Goodness,” I said, pulling away after a while. “How long did that event take you to find me. I thought I had like another 10 minutes to chill.” 

Gerard let go of me and pulled out his phone. “Well, including your extra five minutes to hide. It took you around 23 ish minutes to get here. And I got here in 13.” He said with a smile.

“Damn.” I looked down for a moment before looking back up at him. “So me going into some stores didn’t trick you at all?” 

“It kind of worked but I could tell you had left them. Hot Topic though was tricky cause I really did think you were in there.” He laughed. “Running into Mikey and Pete threw me a little too.”

“Did they tell you that they saw me? Cause I  _ told  _ them not to.” Some little kid walked past us and gave us a look. We must look odd in Claire’s, we definitely look like we belong in Hot Topic instead.

“Nah, they just said hey and Pete was laughing and asked where you were. So I figure you had run into them.” 

“Nice, Pete and Mikey remain loyal I see.” I raised a fist in victory.

Gerard laughed, “Yeah yeah, well after that I just kind of sped off and followed your scent till I made it here.” He shrugged.

“Dang, so my extra 10 minutes meant nothing.” I pouted.

“Basically,” he laughed. “Also I don't know if it counts as cheating, but I could totally smell the lemon bar in your bag when I get closer to Claire’s.”

“Nooo!” I whined. “How could my lemon bar betray me!” 

“Oh I know right?” He laughed, bumping my shoulder with his. 

I laugh as well.

We decide to get our emo butts out of Claire’s so I pay for my hair clips and we head out and back down stairs to Hot Topic. Mikey and Pete were no longer in the store when we got there but we still spent over half an hour in there looking at things. And I spent a good 10 minutes convincing Gerard not to buy me anything. Once we were done walking around Hot Topic we headed out to hit the fancy ass record store in the mall. It had exclusives and stuff that was too expensive for either of us but always fun to look at. After a while Mikey texted Gerard and said it was time to head out. We met up back in the front of the mall and said goodbye to Pete before heading back home. Gerard dropped me off before heading home with Mikey and promising that we would all hang out again soon, the three of us.


	21. A What?

Monday rolled around and it was time for another school week. Ughhhhh. I have such senioritis and it's barely the middle of September. All that I look forward to is the classes I have with my friends, which is thankfully most of my classes. The weather is still good so I wear some black jeans and a cut Green Day Tshirt. I'm basically in all black so I really hope it doesn’t get hot today, but it’s also Jersey soo like I’m fine. 

The ride to school with Mikey and Gerard was… awkward. Mostly because Gerard and I were talking about comics and Mikey was quiet the  _ whole  _ time. Gerard and I tried to get Mikey in on the conversation since it was stuff that he is also into but he was just really curt. As soon as we got in the school Mikey ditched us and we went to our lockers on our own, meeting up with Ray and Frank. 

“Hey guys!” Frank yelled as we walked up to him. 

“Where’s Mikey at?” Ray asked after we said hey back to them.

“He ditched up. Baby is in a mood today.” I shrugged going into my locker.

“He is but ummm. Baby?” Gerard looked at him incredibly confused. Frank chuckled and so did Ray.

“Uhh yeah?” I paused with my hand on a book in my locker. “He’s like my baby brother?” I gave him a look.

“Oh, okay. Makes sense.” He shrugs it off and goes into his locker, but not before Frank bumps into him and gives him a smirk. Gerard just rolls his eyes.

“So how was your guys’s weekend?” I asked closing my locker.

“Probably not as exciting as yours,” Ray says, giving me a look that neither Frank or Gerard see with their heads in their lockers. I just roll my eyes.

“Yeah Gerard and I went to the mall and hung out. Mikey was there too but he was hanging out with Pete.”

“Oh cool,” Frank said. “I was at home, my only company being my right hand.” 

“Ughh Frank,” I groaned at his joke.

“I thought you were hanging out with Jamia?” Gerard said, ignoring Frank’s joke.

“Oh yeah, but we didn’t fuck or anything.” Frank shrugged.

“Why do you feel the need to tell us these things?” Ray said looking down at Frank incredulously.

“Because you guys are my best friends?” Frank said as if that were an obvious fact.

“That’s sweet,” I say sincerely. “But I also don’t need to know who you fuck.” I laugh.

“That's seconded,” Ray laughs with me.

“I guess that means I’m the only one you can tell now,” Gerard says defeated. But Ray and I laugh while Frank just tells us how disappointed he is with his so called ‘best friends’. 

Not long after, the bell rang sending us off to class. English went by fast and on the way out Pete stopped Gerard and I.

“Pete, I am literally going to see you in two seconds.” I said trying to move past him.

“Yeahh, but I had to tell you and Gerard something and figured I would do it when you two are together.” Pete jogged up to us.

“What’s up Pete?” Gerard said, stopping outside his class. Pete’s and mine is only a few doors down.

“Weeeeelllllll, my parents are out of town this weekend so I’m throwing a party Friday night.” Pete smiled at us like he just told us he won the lotto.

I raised an eyebrow impressed and looked up at Gerard to see him just shocked.

“I’m in,” I shrug. “Not like there is anything better to do.” 

“Here I thought you were saving Friday night for me and Mikey.” The melodramatic boy said bumping into me. “Guess I’m in too.”

“Uh duh you’re in. Mikey already said he would be there.” Pete rolled his eyes.

“Cool cool, let’s get to class.” I said grabbing Pete’s arm. “Bye Gee!” I waved to him.

“Byyyye!” Pete said letting himself be dragged by me.

“Bye guys!” Gerard said before going into his class.

Pete and I walked into Gov, taking our seats and chatting as we waited for Ray to show up. Once Ray finally got there, Pete asked him to come to the party and he agreed under certain circumstances though.

“I will only go,  _ if  _ there will be cute people to kiss.” Ray said nodding to himself.

“Well I’ll be there soooo,” I smirk at him playful.

“Alright cool, guess I’ll be there.  _ Even  _ if I can’t kiss cute people.”

“Hey!” I yelled, hitting him in the arm. Ray and Pete just laughed at me.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. Turns out Pete invited all our friends and then a bunch of other people that we kinda knew but now really. Like he invited Lindsey B., Bert, Brendan and Ryan, that cute girl Hayley Williams, along with a few others. It seems like the party will be interesting. 

Time skip to Wednesday! 

Wednesday lunch has me sitting with Patrick and the gang, along with Kristin but no Mikey which sucks. He’s been a bit odd with me lately.  _ But I think it's cause Kristin and I are really close and his crush is getting the better of him _ .

The school day (and week) has been going by so slow because of how excited we all are for the party on Friday. We haven’t all hung out since summer and this is a party at Pete’s. Which means there will be alcohol and weed. And we will see how much I partake in that when we get there. Hahaha. Kristin and I planned to have a sleepover after the party, just in case there are too many people staying at Pete’s and we wanna not be there. 

The last thing to do was find a ride for that day. And considering how often Ray and Kristin carpool, he’s our safest bet. So once the end of the school day came Kristin had made it her goal to get Ray to drive us. Which in all honesty isn’t that hard of a goal to accomplish.

“Hey Ray could you drive me and Y/n to Pete’s party on Friday? We’re gonna have a sleepover.” Kristin said smiling up at Ray, she’s using her cuteness but Ray would say yes no matter what since he was already gonna pick her up. And because Ray is the nicest person in the world.

“Sure thing. Guess we will have a full car then.” He smiled. 

“LOL nope!” Frank said. “I’m sleeping over at Mikey’s.” Frank then flipped us off which is basically his version of doing a dab, but we are all very glad he grew out actually doing dabs at us. 

“Cool more room for me in the back then,” I sassed. 

“It’s not like you need much anyway, shortie.” Frank bumped into me. 

I rolled my eyes with a smile. The not so great part about being shorter than Frank, is him pointing it out.

“I don’t know,” Gerard started. “Are you sure Y/n is shorter than you. She seems taller.” I could see the small smirk that Gerard was trying to hold back and sent a thank you look his way.

“The fuck are you talking about?!?! She is clearly shorter than me!” Frank yelled, arms doing that Italian thing they do when Italians talk. 

“Hmm I think you might be right Gee,” Ray said stroking his nonexistent beard.

“Shut the fuck up, you whore!” Frank yells pushing Ray slightly.

Ray just busts out laughing but so does everyone else. I can’t wait for this party. It’s going to be so fucking fun. 


	22. GRWM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah that says Get Ready With Me.  
> We being basic ish.

After school on Friday I went home with my boy’s as usual but once I got home all I did was grab my sleepover bag and start the walk over to Kristin’s house, well her house adjacent. Ray had offered to drive me but I felt bad about making him take me home just to grab my bag. Ray, being the wonderful human being he is, told me to go to the liquor store by the Way’s and my home, and that he would pick me up and drop me off at Kristin’s. 

I had made it to the corner in less than 10 minutes and the second I sat down on the bench, Ray’s car pulled up.

“Hey there Toro,” I said walking up to his car that had the side window down.

“Hey there y/n/n” He greeted me. 

I opened the back door and threw in my overnight bag, then proceeded to plop myself down in the passenger seat. “Thanks for driving me.” 

“Anything for my favorite short person,” He laughed as he drove away. 

“Ya know? I’m not even mad at that comment cause I remember Frank called you a whore earlier this week.” I smiled at him.

“Thanks for reminding me. I’ll get him back at the party tonight.”

“OOOOhhhh I want to see that!” 

“Of course you do!” Ray laughed. We pulled up to Kristin’s house after a few more minutes of driving. I thanked Ray again for the ride before heading out with my bag and up the front steps of Kristin’s nice ass suburban two story home. 

“Hey!” Kristin yells at me as I reach her door, she was definitely waiting for me to show up. 

“Hey girl,” I say walking into her house. 

“Are you ready for hours of fun and girl talk?” She asked, leading me upstairs.

“You fucking know it!”

We ran up the stairs and to her bedroom. Throwing my bag on the floor and jumping on to her bed.

“Man, it's been a while since I’ve been over.” I said, laying down.

“I know! We gotta have more sleepovers.” Kristin said, walking to her closet to pick out some clothes. “What kind of clothes did you bring for the party?”

“Uhh black skinny jeans and a band tee?” I looked over at her. The look of disappointment hurts, but I get it.

“Kay, we’ll see if any of my shirts fit you. Maybe even a dress.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Dresses are for summer and fancy occasions. This party is neither of those things.” I laughed sitting up.

“ _ Fine. _ I’ll find you a good shirt though.” She smiled mischievously.  _ Oh goodness. _ “What kind of color are you thinking?”

“I’m guessing I can’t pick black right?” I smirked, fully aware of the look that answer was gonna earn me.

Kristin rolled her eyes, “How about red? Maybe something low cut?”

“Are you assuming I’m confident enough to show my clavicles?” I tried to deadpan, but Kristin’s laugh made me laugh at the ridiculous statement.

“Yes. We gotta get you a cute boy.” 

“Alright, alright. Pick some stuff out you think I’ll like.”

“Oh I  _ know  _ you’ll like what I pick.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and also worry that red might not be the best color, especially if Gee is around. Best way to find out is through text.

Hunter: Hey is red like a triggering color for you??

Bloodsucker: Uhhh no? I’m not a fuckin bull LOL

Also.. when the fuck did you change your name to HUNTER! Do you hate me????

Hunter: changed nickname to Swan

changed Bloodsucker nickname to Sparkle boi

Swan: Is that better? 

Sparkle Boi: No.

Swan: Sucks to suck. Pun intended. 

Sparkle Boi: i hate you

Swan: no you don’t! i’m too precious uwu

Sparkle Boi: if you die at the party… it wasn’t me.

Sparkle Boi: changed Swan’s nickname to Future Victim 

Future Victim: mikey will avenge me. bye bitch

Sparkle Boi: guess i can’t kill you cause im not fighting my own brother. see u later ~Bella~ *vomits* 

I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me at Gerard’s last text. 

“Quit flirting with Gerard and look at these cute tops.” Kristin said throwing shirts onto the bed next to me.

“The hell! First of all I wasn’t flirting with anyone. Second of all how the hell did you know I was talking to Gerard?” I looked up at her with knitted eyebrows.

“You get a look on your face,” she shrugged as if it were obvious. “Now look at these cute ass tops!” 

I rolled my eyes before looking at the tops she picked. There was a maroon T-shirt, which is very obviously the trap shirt. If I pick that Kristin is going to make me wear a skirt instead of pants to make it more dressy for the party. So it was a no for the maroon one, which is sad. The other two shirts were…. My style but not something I would ever think about buying because I never go to places where I would need them. There was a green velvet top that had long sleeves but a nice v-neck since it was a mock wrap top. The other shirt was a burgundy scoop neck, with subtle sparkles down the front and the bell sleeves. 

“Wow, you actually picked out stuff I want in my closet.” I said admiring the two nice shirts.

“Good. I mean, I also don’t really wear those shirts… cause they don’t fit me very well. So if you want to keep them you can. Otherwise they are just going to get donated.”

“I… will take you up on that offer.” 

“Cooooool. Now which one do you like more to wear tonight?” She smiled, holding in her anticipation.

“Oh definitely the green one.” I said picking it up.

“I fucking knew it!” Kristin exclaimed fist pumping in victory.

I laughed at her as she grabbed the maroon tee and threw it in her drawers. I grabbed the burgundy sparkle top and put it in my bag to take home.

“Alright now it's my turn to pick.” 

“Good luck, blondie.” I smiled, leaning back on her bed as she shuffled through her drawers and closet. 

“Alright bitch.” I looked up at her. “Which shirt do I pick?” 

Kristin held up two shirts on hangers. One was a blue short sleeve button up with pink dots on it, while the other was a pink off the shoulder spaghetti strap shirt with long sleeves. 

“How fancy do you want to be?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I want Mikey to notice me.” she said.

“Alright, the pink off the shoulder one then. Show some of those sexy shoulders,” I laughed. Kristin laughed too, putting her blue shirt back. We were definitely going to look like light and preppy versus dark and mysterious. But like the sun and the moon we balance each other and wouldn’t be anywhere without the other. She placed her shirt next to mine on the bed before going to her closet to pick out shoes.

“Soooooo, you wanna walk and get starbucks?” I said looking from the shirts to Kristin.

“You wanna ride scooters instead?” She smiled at me from her closet door.

“Hell yeah.” 

We went downstairs and to her garage where I got to use her mom’s scooter and she used hers. _ And they were fucking motorized!! So we don’t even have to try too hard. This is wonderful! _ We rode down the street and to a little plaza that had a movie theater, a couple restaurants, Starbucks, a frozen yogurt place, and of all things a Bed, Bath and Beyond? There are also some stores on the other side of the parking lot, like banks, small businesses, a mini petco with kittens but no puppies. A very suburban place. It was a short ride which meant we got to chill and enjoy our drinks before heading back to Kristin’s place to put on some makeup to ‘make all the boys notice us’. Hahahaha

Going back to Kristin’s place was harder than going to Starbucks because it was uphill. But no sweat for us and our electric scooters! Once we got back we went to Kristin’s bathroom and started getting makeup done. It took a while because I messed up my winged eyeliner like 5 times on one eye but got it perfect the first try on the other, fuckin typical. Kristin went with some pink eye shadow to match the pink in her top, while I ditched the eye shadow and went to glitter town with highlight.  _ Gerard is gonna wish he could sparkle like me. _

After we were finally done with makeup, we decided to get changed. I pulled on my black skinny jeans and the velvet green blouse Kristin had let me borrow. While Kristin had on blue jeans and the light pink off the shoulder sexy-ish top. Once we were finally done getting ready we noticed we only had about ten minutes of chill time before Ray was going to be here to pick us up. 

“Ugghhh,” Kristin groaned, flopping down onto her bed. “Why did we take so long to get ready?”

“Well, I definitely think it's because we talked like the whole time and went and got starbucks.” I laughed at the end, sitting next to her on the bed. 

Kristin looks up at me from her position, “Do you think I at least look cute enough to get Mikey to notice me?”

I couldn’t stop the smile from creeping on my face, “Of course you are. He would have to be blind not to notice you.”

“Y/n/n. He wears glasses. He  _ is  _ blind,” She says laughing while she sits up next to me. 

“That’s very true,” I laugh too. 

Kristin was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, “I really like him, Y/n. Do you think I actually even have a chance?” She looked so vulnerable and open looking up at me. 

“I think so. Even if he is awkward and shy. You have a chance.” I smiled down at her. 

“Thanks,” her smile was genuine and shy. “So uh,” She fixed her curled hair as she sat up next to me. “Do you have a crush on anyone?” 

“Nope.” 

“What? Really? I don’t believe you.” She bumped my shoulder playfully.

“Really. And I’m hoping to keep it that way.” 


	23. The Party Pt. 1

TW alcohol, aka underage drinking

Ray picked us up and we got to the party like 10 minutes after it started, only because we went and got a bunch of cookies from Target beforehand. Walking in we saw that not many people had shown up yet. The only people there so far were Pete (obviously), Patrick, Joe and Andy, along with Brendan and Ryan. 

“I thought there were gonna be cute girls here?” Ray said as he gave Pete a side hug. 

“I’ll hurt you,” I said, giving Ray a sideways glare. 

Pete chuckled, “Other than these two cuties, there will be at least 5 or more ladies showing up. I promise.” 

“Oh maybe that cute girl Christa will show up.” I elbow Ray playfully.

“I’ll hurt you,” Ray said lowly to me smirking as Pete struck up a conversation with Kristin. 

I just laughed and took my bag full of oreos with me to the snack table Pete had set up in the dining room. Ray followed and unloaded the other bag of chocolate chip cookies and some brownies. 

After another ten-ish minutes Gerard, Mikey and Frank finally show up. Along with a ton of other people. Dear lord. It is a full party and Pete’s parents will not be happy. 

“Hi friends!” Kristin said as the boys walked over to us. 

“Hey,” Gerard smiled at us. Mikey didn’t say anything, clearly too enamored by how pretty Kristin was.

“Sup losers, you ready to party?!” Frank said loudly, sticking his tongue out.

“You know it,” I said, bumping him with my shoulder. 

“Sweeet,” Frank smirked. “Oh shit Jamia!” Frank ditched us and ran to his girlfriend.

“Nice seeing ya,” I rolled my eyes.

“He can’t help it, he’s love sick.” Gerard chuckled.

“Welp, he aint the only one,” I whisper to Gerard, pointing to Mikey and Kristin who were talking a bit awkwardly together.

Gerard chuckled, “Very true. So where’s the alcohol?” 

“Kitchen, you gonna make some coffee drink?” I asked as we made our way to the kitchen, leaving Kristin and Mikey to be awkward together. 

“Perhaps,” Gerard said, leaning down to me. “Maybe something fruity. None of it affects me anyway,” He laughed bumping into me. 

“Well you can have your cigs and I will have a singular drink.” I said grabbing a soda from the fridge.

“Why just one?” He asked leaning against the counter pulling out a pack of cigarettes. 

“There are too many people here that I don’t trust to get drunk around.” I shrug, digging around the ice chest for some kind of fun alcoholic drink. 

“Hmm makes sense. I definitely would not trust getting drunk around Bert or Brandon.” 

“Eeeexactly.” I chuckled, pulling out a canned margarita.  _ Eh, it’s worth a try. At least it’s a flavor I actually like. _

“Hey let me try that.”

“No, get your own.” I held the drink to my chest, away from Gerard.

“Aw come on, I don’t want a full one.” He got up and came closer to me. “Let me try it.”

“No!” I said holding the drink away from him.

“Come on!” He crowded me against the counter as he reached for the drink. 

“No Gee!” I laughed, “It’s mine!” 

“Just a taste!” He laughed wrapping an arm around me to try and bring the drink closer.

“Noo! Stop it!” I laughed holding the drink away trying to push back against Gerard.

“Ughh love birds move!” A voice came loudly behind us.

We both jumped and separated, turning to the person. Lindsey B. Of course. 

Neither of us said anything, too shocked from being taken out of our bubble and…  _ wait. Did she just call us love birds? WHAT!? _

I could feel my face heat up slightly,  _ wait. Why am I blushing? I don’t like Gerard that way! We just.. Almost kissed that one time. But it didn’t mean anything! RIght!? _

“Hey Lindsey,” Gerard spoke next to me as Lindsey dug into the freezer for the hard liquor.  _ How is he so casual about this?! _

“Hey, I suggest if you two are gonna… flirt or whatever. Don’t do it in the kitchen. Especially if you’re trying to keep it on the down low.” She said, pouring out a drink before leaving us in stunned silence.

“What did she mean by that?” I asked, trying to be casual.

“Who knows, it's Lindsey.” Gerard rolled his eyes.  _ Ah yes, the jealous ex-girlfriend. Or at least that's probably how Gerard sees it. Or maybe not. Maybe she’s just like that and that’s why they aren’t together anymore. _

“Hmm,” I took a sip of my drink. 

“Hey do you guys want to come kick the party off and play truth or dare?” Patrick said walking up to us.

“Sure,” Gerard spoke up faster than me. “Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” We followed Patrick down to a little den area where most of the party people were at. People were either sitting around or chatting while munching on snacks.

“You want to sit over there?” I asked Gerard, pointing to a vacant sofa.

“Hell yeah, hurry before other people take it.” He said speed walking over claiming it before I got there. 

I plopped down next to him, it wasn’t really a sofa so much as an oversized sofa chair that we both fit very comfortably in. But it really only fit us two. Kristin and Mikey came in and sat down on the floor next to us so we could chat as we waited for Pete and Patrick to let everyone know about the game. Even Frank came and sat on the floor next to us, Jamia choosing to sit on a low cushion next to him, teasing him about her finally being taller than him.

“Alright losers!” Pete yelled, “You guys ready for some Truth or Dare?”

Some people whooped while some groaned, but everyone seemed like they were interested and ready to play.

“Legit, only rules are no nudity,” Patrick started which was immediately met by some boos from some boys. “No endangering someone’s life, no asking about crush names, and no stripping.”

“Isn’t that the same and no nudity?” Frank said.

“No.” Pete deadpanned. A couple people chuckled but the rules were easy and clearly there just to make sure everyone had fun and no one got hurt. 

Patrick started us off by daring Joe to let someone straighten his hair. Since this took a while Joe asked someone else truth or dare while some girl straightened his fluffy hair. Some people clearly knew that their friends are evil and had a hard time picking between truth or dare, others went straight for truth to be safe. 

Pete took a dare and ended up having to eat oreo’s dunked in ketchup, hot sauce and soy sauce. Disgusting.

“Alright, Y/n, truth or dare?” Pete asked, making heavy eye contact with me. How he was alive after eating that oreo is beyond me.

I hesitated but there is no good outcome to this if Pete is the one asking, “Dare.”

Pete smirked and I immediately regret my decision. 

“I dare you,” He paused in thought. “To kiss Gerard.” 

The room erupted in ooo’s and some scandalous whooping. I could feel my face go red as I glared down Pete.

“Isn’t that unfair to Gee, he doesn’t get a say in this.”  _ I will fucking murder you Pete and I hope you know that. _

“Oh yeah right, Gerard you don’t mind. Do ya?” Pete put on his charming smiling while looking at Gerard next to me.

“Uh,” Gerard turns to look at me, his face is red like mine. “Y/n’s one of my best friends. I guess it's okay.” 

_ Gerard you sweet, sweet boy. But that look I gave was not for you to say okay to this. _

Frank cheered from the floor and started chanting “do it”. Then everyone was chanting.  _ I will kill Frank later too. _

I turned my glare from Frank and Pete to look up at Gerard. He was looking down at me with a look that said it was fine. _But no, this is not fine! I don’t know how I feel about you!_ _But wait… Pete said to kiss Gee, but he didn’t say on the lips. Sooooo._

I lean up to Gerard as if I’m going to kiss him on the lips, I can hear everyone stop chanting in that moment. But at the last second I turn my head and press my lips to his cheek.

“Oh come on!” Frank yells.

“That was  _ so  _ not what I meant, Y/n” Pete rolls his eyes.

“I aim to displease,” I smirk at him, settling back against the couch my arm flush against Gerard’s. I could feel the heat in my cheeks despite my best effort to keep it at bay. 

“You fucking suck,” Frank groaned falling back to the floor. I couldn’t help but laugh at him a little. Peeking up at Gerard, I could tell he thought Frank was being ridiculous too.  _ Good. He doesn’t seem to be feeling awkward like me. GEEZUS why did Pete have to dare me to kiss him! What a weird thing to do! And why the hell did Gerard say it was okay! His brother is my best friend! Is he trying to ruin all our friendships? _

Everyone grumbled for a while about how I ruined the game but I just asked Ray truth or dare and moved on. We all took turns till it got to Frank who was dared to drink an entire can of soda in one go. And that was so fucking disgustingly hilarious I cried from laughing so hard. Some people were disgusted and walked away while others, like me, were dying of laughter. 

“Alright,” Frank paused, clutching his chest. “G-man. Truth or dare.” Frank looked like he was in pain, but America’s Funniest Home Videos conditioned me to laugh at other people’s pain so I’m still giggling despite Gerard now having to face hell like the rest of us.

“Dare, why the fuck not.” He chuckled, nudging me with his shoulder. 

“Nice,” I mumbled trying to control my laughter. 

“Rad.” Frank nodded. “I dare you and Y/n to go in the closet 7 minutes in heaven style and actually fucking kiss on the mouth.”


	24. The Party Pt. 2

The sheer amount of screams that echo through the home after Frank dares

Gerard and I to kiss in the closet is deafening, and probably even worse for Gerard’s vampire hearing. 

Suddenly Frank is grabbing onto Gerard and Pete comes and grabs my arm, both dragging us to a nearby closet. It all happens too quickly and loudly for either of us to really put up a fight about it other than a few stutters. I make eye contact with Mikey for a moment as I’m being dragged to the closet, he looks mad but also disappointed? Mikey’s expressions are so hard to read sometimes, fucking stoic bitch.

The door is opened and we are shoved in all too quickly for either of us to stop them from shutting the door behind us. Only able to pound our fists on it.

“Let us out Frank!” Gerard yelled at the door.

“YOU CAN’T COME OUT UNTIL YOU FRICKEN KISS! Or till we wanna send other people in there to makeout.” Frank chuckled at the end.

“FRANK! Let us out!” I yelled.

“Uh nope, sorry!” Pete yells at us through the door.

“KISS OR DIE LOSERS!” Frank yells banging on the door.

“What the fuck Frank?!”Gerard glares at Frank through the door. 

The boys laugh on the other side not even bothering to give us any more explanations. And the new silence in the closet is so loud in comparison to the noise from before.

“Ya know we don’t have to kiss right?” I say quietly, feeling the nerves in my stomach tighten. “It’s not like they’ll know.”

“That’s true,” Gerard looks away from the door and down at me. He can definitely see better in this closest than I can. There is only the dim ass lighting coming from the top and bottom of the door other than that, blackness. 

“Sooo,” I rocked back on my heels leaning against one of the walls. “What do you want to do?”

Gerard looks down at me and settles against the other wall. “I don’t even know.”

“Yeah, aren't like closets in movies supposed to be where secrets are shared anyway? Like if the people don’t want to kiss I mean.”

“Yeah well, you already know my secret.” Gerard smirks mischievously.

“Hahah that’s very true.” I look around the small closet noting the coats along with shoes and boardgames on the floor. “Well we do have some years to catch up on right?” I looked back up at Gerard but he was making a face, head tilted toward the door.

“Hey are you okay?” I reach for Gerard and snap my fingers making him look at me.

“Sorry, there are just, just people talking and it's a lot of noise out there.” He says shaking his head.

“Yeah, probably gossiping about what we’re doing in here.” I laugh, “Why the fuck did Frank even put us in here? We’re friends not dating.” I roll my eyes but feel my cheeks heat up,  _ the fuck? _

“Yeah true, he’s just weird.” Gerard laughs slightly awkwardly.

“Plus kissing in a closet is so fucking stupid why even bother? Kissing is dumb anyway.” I trail off realizing I’m being awkward about this.  _ Why the fuck did Pete and Frank have to do this to us? _

“Have you ever even kissed someone before?” Gerard says sarcastically.    
I don’t need light to know that Gerard is giving me a shit eating grin right now. “You bitch. Of course I have!” 

“Oh really? Who could have guessed?” Gerard continues with sass. 

“Excuse  _ me _ , but I think it is  _ you  _ who hasn’t kissed anybody!” I pointed at him, poking him in the chest.

“I’ve totally kissed people!”

“Oh yeah? Who!?” 

Gerard said nothing for a moment and looked away from me.

“I’m taking your silence to mean that you haven’t kissed anyone,” I smirk. 

Gerard mumbles something that I can’t make out.

“Uh what was that?”

“I kissed Rebecca,” He says quietly. 

_ Rebecca?? Like Middle school????? WHAT???  _ “Gerard. Are you telling me the last person you kissed was Rebecca? From middle school? Your middle school girlfriend?” I try not to yell in shock.  _ We’re seniors now! That was so long ago! Nearly 5 years ago! _

“Well yeah I dated her in middle school but uh we went out in like sophomore year too. But uh I also dated Lindsey for like two seconds in junior year, so I guess she would be it.” I can’t stop myself from looking at him shocked.

“Gee, you haven’t kissed anyone since then?”

Gerard chuckled lightly, “Well I’m not counting the time I was dared to kiss Frank sooo.”

I laughed as well, having been there for that.

“Well when was the last time you kissed someone?” Gerard nudged my foot with his.

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. “Uhh beginning of Junior year.”

“Really? Who?”

“Ummm.. Tyler. We dated for a while.”

“That was the last person you kissed?” He pressed, not believing me.

“Okay fine.” I contemplated lying but that ruins us being friends. “It was actually the beginning of the summer….. And…. it was also Frank.” I laughed sarcastically. It was at the same party that Gerard was dared to kiss Frank at, except mine wasn’t a dare. I was just going through things and Frank thought it would cheer me up. It made things awkward but he had good intentions.

Gerard laughed, “Oh my god. Are you telling me the last time either of us kissed someone it was Frank?”

I couldn’t stop my laughter at that realization, “ _Oh_ _no!_ You’re right! Ughhhhhh.”

We continued to laugh at ourselves for a bit. 

“Kay I do not want Frank to be the last person I kissed anymore. I gotta kiss someone else now,” I shake my head at the thought of Frank holding this over me. 

“Well I guess Frank put us in here for a reason then,” Gerard chuckled before letting it die out awkwardly.  _ Oh right, I totally forgot why we were in here. _

“Uh yeah,” I look down at our shoes.  _ Fuck it. _ “I guess this is  _ one  _ way to make it so Frank isn’t the last person either of us kissed.” I looked up at him, hoping this isn’t a dumb fucking idea. 

Gerard looks down at me searching my face for something, “Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Yeah,” I say quietly as I take a small step closer to him. 

“Yeah,” Gerards stands up from leaning against the wall and towers over me. He pauses, probably hearing my heart racing, and leans down slightly. It’s not enough to kiss me, he’s probably leaving the final decision to me in case I want to back down.  _ But I don’t want to. _ I stretch up slightly, lifting my heels off the ground meeting Gerard in the middle. Our lips press together lightly, neither of us wanting to step too far. After a few seconds we pull away, my eyes still closed though trying not to over think about how good that was. I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding when suddenly there’s pressure on my lips again.

Gerard’s hands take hold of my waist while my hands close into fists on his shirt.  _ Wait a minute, when did my hands even get there?! _ I can feel Gerard moving forward, closer to me and can’t stop myself from walking back. My back hits the wall and I can’t help the little gasp I give at the surprise. Gerard’s mouth attacks mine even more, taking advantage of my surprise and I can’t help but respond back with as much ferocity. Tongues exploring new territory and dancing together perfectly. Gerard crowds me, pushing me more into the wall as my hands travel up his shirt to wrap around his neck. His mouth leaves mine as I gasp for air after the onslaught of kisses, his lips travel to my cheek and down my face to my neck. The hum that passes my lips is not of my own choosing as Gerard peppers kisses down my neck. An open mouthed kiss is placed at the juncture of my neck and my shoulder before Gerard rips back out of my arms slamming against the opposite wall. 

My arms fall to my side and my eyes are open in an instant. Gerard is backed up against the wall with a terrified expression on his face and dark eyes. My breathing is heavy and so is Gerard’s.  _ What… just happened? _

“I..” He starts before his face contorts slightly into shock. “Oh god. I’m so sorry.”

I take a few breaths as I comprehend what he’s saying, “It’s, it’s okay.” My heart is still beating fast against my rib cage as I look at Gerard in the darkness. 

“No, I. That shouldn’t have- I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I just,” He puts his face in his hand ashamed.

“It’s okay Gee,” I reach out, taking a hold of his hands, as I step closer to him. “Gee, it’s alright.”

“No,” He looks up from his hands at me. “I lost control, I could’ve-. I shouldn’t have done that. We shouldn’t have-”

He looks scared and sad, so I take his hands in mine. “It’s alright. It’s just.. Ya know. A vampire thing.” I shrug with a small smile. 

“Yeah, a vampire thing.” his voice is small and his eyes are scared.

“Don’t worry Gerard. I’m fine.” I give him a stronger smile, to get the I’m okay point across.

“But,” Gerard pleads with his eyes for forgiveness but he already has it. “Shit,” He looks to the door. “They're coming back.” 

We let go of each other's hands and I step back from him slightly, to give him room.

“Hey losers! Did you two kiss in there already?” Frank yells through the door.

“No!” Gerard and I end up yelling back at the same time. We look at eachother and can’t help but start to laugh.  _ More secrets to keep, but this one makes sense. _

“You two are so lame!” Frank yells before opening the door. “Dude what did you do to Gee? He looks like he’s gonna cry! Did you fucking break his heart or something?” Frank says. Ray and Pete stand aways behind him, looking in at us.

I look up at Gerard and Frank is right. Making out must have really scared him.  _ Well not us making out but I guess him being close to my neck maybe. Yeah that makes sense. _ Gerard looks down at me with a look that asks to get him out of there. His dark eyes also say he shouldn’t go back to the party just yet.

I reach out and grab his arm, “Yeah we got deep into conversations so we are gonna go finish that up outside. Bye.” I said quickly as I pulled Gerard out of the closet with me and headed to the back door past Mikey, Patrick and a few others. 

“Uhh okay?” Frank says as we make it out the door. 

I pull Gerard with me to the side of Pete’s house where I knew no one would be because no one knows it's there. We stop behind the fence so that way no one would see us, letting go of Gerard’s hand I take a step back to give him some space.

“I’m okay,” Gerard says quietly taking in deep breathes.

“I love when you lie to me Gee.” I tilted my head giving him a look.

Gerard sighed. “Sorry. I just… You shouldn’t have to miss the party because of me.”   
“Gee we missed plenty of the party already. What’s a couple more minutes for you to chill out so we can go have fun with everyone else.” I smiled.  _ I’m such a good friend. Even if I’m freaking out on the inside about having made out with my best friend’s brother. And I guess by default also my new best friend. Aughhhhhh. _

“Thanks, Y/n/n. I, I really appreciate it.” Gee smiled at me. His eyes going back to their light hazel instead of the dark brownish red.

“Of course Gee.” I returned his smile before looking up at the night sky.  _ What the hell is everyone going to think inside. Mikey is definitely going to know something is up now, even more than before. _

“Hey,” Gerard spoke up after a couple minutes. I looked down from the stars and back to him. “We can go back inside now. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” I nodded. 

We walked back inside and people were definitely giving us looks. I tried to ignore that and just go find Kristin and Mikey. Or even Ray. Some one for us to chat with and return to normal. 

The rest of the party was okay. Pete got wasted, as predicted. Frank also got wasted but he almost broke the no stripping rule on his own cause he was feeling himself a bit too much. Mikey was being awkward with me, understandable. Kristin and Ray stopped having a good time so we left early. But not before we helped Gerard get a drunk Frank and a high as a kite Mikey into his car. We said our goodbyes and I was left to sit in the back seat of Ray’s car staring out the window trying not to think about how Gerard’s lips felt against mine. 


	25. Girl Talk

Ray dropped us off at Kristins with a wave and we headed into the house straight to her bedroom. We were both tired from the party so we immediately put our pjs on before going to take the makeup off and getting ready for bed. After we finally got all that off we hopped into Kristin’s bed to settle in for the night and talk about the party some more.

“How did it go with Mikey tonight?” I asked, laying on my side to look at Kristin. 

She rolled over to look at me, “I feel like it went well. I mean we hung out for a while and he said I looked nice.”

“That’s great! He’s trying at least” I rolled my eyes.

Kristin laughed, “I guess, I mean it kind of hard to tell if he’s being friendly or flirting.” 

“Ughh I know. He’ll get there I promise.”

“Sooo..” She pursed her lips with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Soo what?” I laughed.

“Did you and Gerard really not kiss the entire time you were in the closet.” 

I paused for a moment contemplating lying to Kristin or not, which was the wrong move.

“OH MY GOD! You did!” Kristin squealed! She took my silence wrong but also…. knows me too well.

“Well sort of,” I trailed off.  _ Geez, no one is supposed to know. _

“Oh my gosh! How was it? How did it happen? Tell me everything!” She said sitting up next to me with a huge smile on her face. 

I rolled my eyes, sitting up next to her. “We were just talking about how we hadn’t kissed anyone for a while and said fuck it and kissed.” I shrugged scooting back against her head board.

“What?! No way. It was so not that simple. Fess up.” 

“Ughhh fine we both realized the last person we kissed was Frank,” I started.

“OH MY GOD!” Kristin burst out laughing. “Frank?!!” 

I laughed too, “Yeah it was at the beginning of the summer.  _ Anyway _ ! Neither of us wanted Frank to be the last person we kissed, so we kinda just kissed.” 

“Yeah? That’s it?”

“Yup.” 

“But then why did you guys go outside and talk if you only kissed once.”

“We were talking about other stuff afterwards. It's personal.” I shrug.

“Well, do you  _ like  _ him?” Kristin looked at me with a soft smile.

“I don’t think so. We’re just really good friends.” I look down at my hands. 

“Liar.” She smiled at me. “You guys are  _ totally  _ into each other.”

“No we’re not. Where did you even get  _ that  _ idea from?”

She shrugged, looking around her room with a smile. “It definitely wouldn’t be from the way you two look at each other.”

“What does that mean? We don’t look at eachother weird!” I said pushing her arm.

“Oh yeah you do, you guys just don’t notice.” She laughed. “We all see it.”

“No you don’t! There is nothing to see!” I cross my arms.

“You guys like each other and we can allllll see it.” She smirks poking me in the arm.

“No we don’t! We’re just friends!” I say throwing my arms up in frustration.

“If you’re ‘just friends’ then why did you kiss in the closet and not tell anyone?” She screeched silently with an “are you kidding me” look on her face.

“Because everyone is going to make it awkward like you’re doing right now!”

“I’m ‘making it awkward’ because I’m pointing out the obvious thing of you two having feelings for eachother and you now have to face your feelings!” She smiled wildly at me.

“Ughh I’m going to bed.” I say as I lay back down and pull the covers up.

Kristin sighs, “Fine. You know, if either of you ever  _ actually  _ confessed, you guys would be good together.” She giggled laying back down next to me. 

I huffed and pulled the blankets up higher.  _ I don’t like Gerard that way. We’re just friends and he trusts me to keep his vampire secret. It’s not like we almost kissed before or anything. I mean it was just in my head right? We weren't going to actually kiss that time. And like we’re close like Mikey and I. We hang out and like our kind of physically affectionate. Well I mean, it’s different with us cause of the Vampire think, Mikey would never give me a piggyback ride. Heck Mikey would probably never buy me ice cream either unless I was buying him something else. And like Mikey would never try and grab me around the waist cause that would just be awkward. But when Gerard does it, it’s not? Gerard and I are just close, it’s never super awkward between us whenever we are close to each other or in the other’s space. Or even after we kissed in the closet and then ended up making out by accident! It wasn’t awkward or anything and his lips were really soft and oh.  _ **_Oh_ ** _. _

OH FUCK I LIKE GERARD! How the fuck did this happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We getting into it now boys. Everything... Is gonna get so hard and we are gonna be so fuckin dumb.


	26. Panic! in the feels

After Kristin’s place I spent the rest of my weekend holed up in my room dreading the fact that I am going to face Gerard, in about 10 minutes now when he picks me up for school while I am now fully aware of the fact that I have a crush on him. *-* yeah it's going to be great. Said not me ever and only sarcastically. Due to the realization that I have a crush make me actually put a little more effort in my outfit today? Yes. So now I sit here at the bottom of my stairs trying to distract myself with my phone while having killer winged eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara and everything else on my face! Even lipstick! While wearing, of all things… a dress. A black spaghetti strap dress with skulls all over it and a white shirt underneath, along with my nice boots.

Does any of this even matter considering Gerard has already seen me on a normal day and this outfit isn’t going to impress him too much? I don’t even know but at least it's something considering my now even larger dilemma of ‘Do I tell Mikey or not?’ Because that, right there, is the biggest problem I have ever faced. 

I heard the honk of Gerard’s car and stood up taking a deep breath preparing to go out and face the world. I grabbed my backpack and headed outside.

“Why are you so dressed up?” Mikey says as a greeting with no hello at all.

“Uhh cause I can,” I feel my face going red. “Morning to you too.” I rolled my eyes as I buckled in.

“I think you look nice, Y/n/n.” Gerard says as he begins to drive.

I look down at my lap and clench my fists real fast taking a moment before saying “Thanks Gee.”

The car is awkward, I can feel it. The atmosphere is heavy and no one is talking, just thrashing music playing from the speakers relatively low. I stare out the window, millions of thoughts running through my head as we make our way to the school. _What is wrong with all of us?_

We pull up to the school and awkwardly get out and join Frank and Ray who are waiting there already. 

“Hey guys,” I say first. _Geez why do I sound so weird._ “Where’s Kristin?” 

“She has a cold,” Ray said with a frown as I hugged him. 

“That sucks.” I say as I give Frank a hug too.

“Wow I get a hug today? What happened to you? Did you like have a near death experience or something?” Frank said looking at me weird. “Plus a dress? Who are you?” He said with a smile.

“Shut up or I will hurt you.” I glared at him.

Gerard laughed. “She looks nice, quit being mean.” 

I looked down shaking my hair out trying to hide the blush on my cheeks. Missing any looks the boys were giving me or each other.

“You do like nice, Y/n.” Ray said. 

I looked up, flipping my hair away from my face. “Thanks Ray.” I smiled up at him.

“Yeah, so what boy are you trying to impress?” Frank chuckled, elbowing me. 

“I’ll kill you.” I said moving away from him. 

“HEY CUTIE!” 

We all turn to the sound and see Patrick and Pete walking over to us through the parking lot. 

“Hey guys!” Gerard waves as they approach us.

“Hey, how was your guys’s weekend?” Pete asks, stopping next to Mikey.

Patrick throws his arms around my shoulder’s in a hug as the guys talk about their boring weekends and how fun the party was. 

“You look cute in that Y/n,” Patrick says leaving an arm around my shoulders.

I smile and brush some hair out of my face. “Thank ‘Trick. You look good in that fedora, you dork.” I laugh.

Patrick laughs pulling me into him for a moment. I smile bumping my head against his. I pull my phone out of my pocket to check how much time we get to still hang out but there’s only five minutes till the bell and I can’t help but frown.

“Hey guys we should get going,” I say nodding my head towards the school.

“Ughhh you’re so ruuude.” Frank groans grabbing his backpack off the floor.

I laugh, “Cause I reminded you we have school?” 

“DUh!” Frank says knocking into me.

We all laugh and head towards the school. Oddly Patrick doesn’t take his arm off me at first until walking like that is difficult and he lets me go. We all head to our lockers and grab our stuff before heading to class. 

“Patrick is a bit clingy,” Gerard mumbles as we walk to our seats in English.

“Eh, I don’t really see it.” I say taking a seat next to him. 

Gerard gives me a weird look and shrugs as the bell rings. No time to finish _that_ conversation as our teacher yells at everyone to quiet down. English goes by slowly with me stealing glances at Gerard and like almost making eye contact but he turns away the second I look at him.

Once class is out we head to our next class but neither of us talk much, the rest of the school day goes by with it being a little awkward between Gerard and I, _especially_ when we got to our lockers to grab lunch. Everything was fine and dandy till my boys showed up to head to lunch together and Gerard got all awkward and quiet. Pete was idk flirting maybe with Mikey but it was unclear cause Pete is just kind of Like That, plus Mikey is….. Straight for the most part and also very into Kristin. While Patrick chilled against the lockers next to me before I finished grabbing everything and he threw his arm on my shoulder as he excitedly told me about a new movie that was coming out that he really wanted to see, which is surprising because it wasn’t a superhero movie. We said goodbye to the other guys as we, Pete, Patrick and myself, went to find Joe and Andy at our usual spot. 

Lunch was pretty fun, everyone was talking about the party some more and about the new movie dropping on Friday. But it was over too quickly and we had to go to class again. The end of the day saw Patrick and I walking out to the cars to meet up with our friends and finally leave school. The car ride leaving school was... awkward. Again. Mikey was pretty silent and Gerard looked like someone ate his stash of candy that he was saving. I could not wait to leave the car and crash onto my bed trying to ignore the fact that all the effort I had put in to impress Gerard that morning did not do a damn thing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friend Alyx, who pointed out my inconsistent ass who said Kristin was sick and then added her in the end of the chapter anyways. ;^^  
> Thank you friend. I love you!


	27. Flirting?

Wednesday rolls around and the school week cannot be over fast enough. Mikey is being weird with me, Gerard is kinda distant but also close? Which is confusing as all hell, maybe I’m making something out of nothing and my crush is just getting in the way of things. But let’s be real here at this point I feel like Patrick has more feelings for me than Gerard does. After he mentioned Patrick being clingy I thought back and realized he does like to hang on me a lot, but that's just a friend thing. EXCEPT for this week. So far Patrick has been overly touchy this week so much so that I actually noticed, which surprises no one. And it’s really sweet if he’s trying to hit on my like I think he is but also….no. No baby, no. He’s sweet but, sigh, I have to admit my crush on Gerard is more than anticipated because now I’m noticing  _ everything _ .

Every single brush of the arms, every single glance, every single compliment is like a million times more important now that I have to deal with knowing I like him as more than a friend. I hate and love Kristin, eternally. Has this crush improved my fashion? No. Have I been putting in a bit more effort to makeup? Eh. I look hot for my standards and that's all that really matters. 

As school came to an end on Wednesday I found myself at my locker with Gerard talking about records. Walking out of the school I felt our arms brush  through the fabric of my sweatshirt and oh boi. I need to get my head down from the clouds.

“Hey Y/n/n.” Gerard started as we walk down the steps to the parking lot.

“Yeah?” I grab my backpack straps so I don’t look at him with heart eyes.

“You wanna hang out later? I could uh sneak you out again and we could go somewhere.” 

I press my lips together suppressing my smile. “Yeah, uh that would be fun.” 

“Cool.” He says as we reach his car and watch as our friends show up to hang out for a bit before we leave school.

~That evening~

Gerard had texted me a while ago asking if I wanted to hang out at the Batcave and I of course said yes because.. Uhh alone time with the boy I like and being away from literally everyone in a really cool place. What do I do? Say no? So I grab my sneakers along with putting on some pants in case it gets cold. I open the window to my room hoping Gerard would get the hint and dig through my closet for a sweatshirt that isn’t the one Gerard gave me. I settle on a dark blue one with little yellow stars all over it. I tie it around my waist as I check the time seeing that Gerard should be over any minute to grab me.

I take a seat at my desk playing on my phone for a bit until I hear my bed squeak. I look over seeing Gerard sitting on my bed smiling at me.

“Thanks for leaving the window open this time.”

“No problem, figured it would be easier that way.” I shrug, turning my chair to fully face him.

“So you ready to hang out at the Batcave?” He smirks playfully.

“You know it! So are we taking your car somehow or what?”

"Oh, I’m just gonna run us most of the way there.” He said, shrugging.

I looked at him in disbelief. “You can run that far?”

“I’ve run farther.” He smirks at me, shrugging.

“With a person on your back?” I raise an eyebrow crossing my arms with a smirk.

“Nooo,” He rolled his eyes. “Which is why I’m going most of the way there and then we will walk the last 15 minutes.” 

“Oh, alright.” I shrug.

“Yup,” He looks around for a moment before getting off my bed. “So get on, sugar.”

“Don’t call me sugar.” I try to say with a straight face but I can feel the blush coming on and my heart beating faster. I get up from my chair and walk over to him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He swats his hand at me playfully before putting his back to my bed so I can hop on. 

I step up on my bed and not as awkwardly as I did before, get on Gerard’s back kinda smoothly. He grabs on to my thighs as usual and I wrap my arms tight around his neck. 

“You ready pumpkin?” I can hear the smirk in Gerard’s voice.

“I can very easily kick you somewhere that you don’t want to be kicked. Try again.” I smirk though my stomach tightens from the nickname.

“Of course, sugar.” 

I roll my eyes and tighten my grip around his neck before finally closing my eyes. “Yeah I’m ready, _Angel_.”

“Angel?” Gerard asked, shifting me a bit.

“He’s the vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“Oh right! I forgot about him. So you’re Buffy and I’m Angel then?” I hear his smile.

“Yeah sure. Now let’s go, Gee.”

“Alright, hold on tight.”

Gerard takes off through my house and outside. I can feel the wind through my hair as I hide my face in my arm and against Gerard’s neck. I try to breathe calmly and focus on holding onto Gerard so I don’t get too dizzy when I get off this time. We come to a stop and I can hear cars driving by which tells me we are by a street or behind a building. I open my eyes to see the side of a huge building.

“You’re all good now, sugar.” 

“You really need to stop saying that.” I grumble as Gerard lets me down. 

I hear a chuckle come from him and can’t stop the immediate reaction to punch him in the arm. So I hit him, but it’s not like it matters with his vampire strength anyway so he just laughs at me some more. We walk for a while in comfortable silence until Gerard finally speaks up.

“Why do you let Patrick hang on you all the time?” Gerard says softly. 

“Uhh he doesn’t hang on me  _ all  _ the time.” 

“He hangs on you a lot, and he’s always in your space. Don’t you notice?” His voice now normal. He looks down at me.

“Um,” I can feel my cheeks burning with the look Gerard had. “I guess not.” I look away from him and at the floor as we walk.  _ I mean I noticed now but I want to see where Gerard is going with this. _

“Well doesn’t it bother you?”

“No not really, he’s always been like that.” I shrug seeing us getting closer to the warehouse.

“I guess, but I definitely think it's different now.”

I raise an eyebrow at Gerard and play dumb. “Oh really? Why do you say that?”

“Can you really not see the heart eyes he gives you?” Gerard asks in disbelief. 

I laugh, “I didn’t notice.”

“It’s like all the time too! Are you for reals? You haven’t noticed his giant ass crush on you at all?” 

“Nope, I thought that was just normal.”

Gerard scoffs, “No way you are that oblivious.”

“I am though!” I laugh. “Kristin or Mikey are the ones who usually point out when someone is flirting with me and neither of them have said anything about Patrick. So I don’t know what you’re seeing.”

“You’re joking. It’s so fucking obvious how much he likes you, Y/n.” Gerard says gruffly.

“Well I haven’t noticed at all. What do you want me to do about it, Gee?” I look up at him innocently.  _ Wow, is he like jealous or is it my imagination? Please be jealous. _

“Well do you like him? Cause then that's going to determine what’s gonna happen.” He says frustratedly.

“Oh I don’t know, he’s cute and all.” I trail off looking at Gerard from the corner of my eye.

“You think Patrick is cute? What?!” He says loudly, obviously trying not to yell in shock.

“Yeah in a nerdy awkward way I guess.” I shrug.  _ How long can I get away with this? _

“Are you serious? He’s so weird and his crush on you is massive. Are you gonna go out with him?”

“Oh I don’t know,  _ maybe _ .”

“No fucking way.” He lets out a deep breath. “You can’t go out with him.”

“And why not?” I look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He looks down at me shocked and angry, “Cause you’re, I mean. We’re.. I.. Ughh.” He growls at the end.

“Calm down, Gee. We’re just friends. I was just messing with you. I don’t like Patrick.” I say seeing the anger and frustration on Gerard’s face.

“Right right, you guys are just friends…..” He shakes his head moving his black hair around in little waves. “ _ We’re  _ just friends.” He looked down at his hands. “Ughh I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” 

“It’s… fine. Maybe it's just a possessive vampire thing or something?” I say nervously, trying to hide the fact that Gerard potentially being jealous makes me get butterflies, and make a joke. _ But he also said that we’re just friends so I gotta keep it together.  _

“Uh, yeah maybe.” 

“Yeah, there’s uh tons we don’t know about the vampire thing so you never know.” I try to play off the awkwardness that was settling between us, but it just felt off.

“Yeah, you’re uh you’re right.” He takes a deep breath next to me.

“I mean I’m not complaining,” I mumble as I sneak through the fence. 

Gerard sneaks through behind me and walks past me towards the warehouse.  _ Weird. Wait. not weird. Fuck he has super hearing. I’ll just cry in a corner later. This is fine.  _

“Hey you want help getting in again?” He asks, stopping in front of the broken window. He’s looking at the window and not at me.  _ Crap.  _

“Um yeah, please.” I step up to the window and look up at Gerard. I can feel the heat in my cheeks from the embarrassment of my dumbass saying shit out loud.

“Okay,” He turns to me and just freezes for a moment. We awkwardly look at each other there in front of the window. 

I look down and sigh awkwardly, “Gee, I-”

In a blink I was suddenly sitting on the window ledge, I looked at Gerard in front of me with his hands still on my hips.

“It was, it was quicker to lift you up. Um,” he smiled shyly at me blushing.

“Uh yeah, okay.” I nodded dumbly looking at him, my face aflame. I drop my head to look down at my lap trying to hide the way my heart flutters. 

“Are you gonna get inside? Or do you need my help for that too?” I feel Gerard squeeze my hips lightly and I look up at him in minor shock. He just smiles at me with a hint of sass but the blush on his cheeks gives him away too easily.

I breathe a laugh through my nose. “Fine, let go of me then sparkle boy.” I joked pulling my right leg up slowly so I didn’t hit Gerard as he let go of me.

“I don’t sparkle,  _ pumpkin _ .” 

“Oh shut it.” I said turning around and dropping down into the warehouse. 

“You’ll have to make me.” Gerard said climbing in behind me.

“I’ll push you out the window, Gee.” I chuckled walking toward the main area.

“I’d like to see you try.” He whispered into my ear before disappearing off into the abandoned building. 

“Jerk,” I mumble, a smile on my face as I make my way to the couch. Plopping down on it I relax into the cushions and play on my phone a bit until Gerard decides to show up again. 


	28. Vibing

I sit on the couch for a little while by myself before Gerard comes crashing into the couch next to me.   
“Where did you go?” I raise an eyebrow at him.  
“Had to go by batteries for the lights since they died last week, plus I got us some snacks.” He grabbed the bag next to him taking out the goodies stashed inside.   
“Oh, where did you go?” I said taking some candy from him.  
“Walmart, duh.” He sassed rolling his eyes at me.   
I smacked him with the candy in my hand, giggling lightly at him.   
“What? It was the obvious answer,” He laughed getting up and putting batteries in the lanterns he had around the room. But he didn’t turn them on yet since the sun was still up.   
I shake my head to myself and go back to playing neko atsume on my phone. Gotta feed my virtual stray cats. I take some cute pictures of my cats before I feel the couch dip next to me and Gerard’s arm against mine.  
“Is that neko atsume?” He breaths by my shoulder.  
“Yeah, gotta collect all the cats.” I smile though I feel the butterflies in my stomach at our closeness.   
“That’s fun. I should download that to my phone too. And then when I collect more than you, you’ll be so jealous.” He laughed leaning his head on my shoulder.   
I chuckled. “You wish I would be jealous of you, you dork.”   
“Oh you totally would be,” He smiled sitting up and turning to face me.  
I turn my body towards him putting my phone down in my lap. “Uh no. I’m the better cat collector.”   
“Yeah and how would you know that? I don’t need a lot of sleep so I’m going to collect more than you.” He smirks.  
“Ah!” I scoff, “The audacity you have to believe you’re better than me!”   
“Oh what? You think you’re better? I’m a vampire. I’m clearly superior.” He leans forward putting a hand to his chest.   
“You think you can beat me?” I lean towards him, pulling my legs up onto the couch. “I’m fucking amazing! Who cares that you’re a vampire? I’m the only one who knows!” I laugh.  
“Oh so you don’t care? So this isn’t exciting to you at all?”  
I laugh sharply, “Exciting is different than you beating at Neko Atsume.” I smile poking him in the nose.  
He looks at me with a smile, “Understandable. I still think I’ll beat you though.”  
“You can try.” I raise my eyebrows at him with a smirk on my face.  
“Oh I will,” He smiles leaning back against the couch cushions.  
I laugh softly, leaning back as well but against the arm rest. Gerard looks down and slips his hand under my legs picking them and laying them across his. I look up at him from under my eyelashes trying to hide the soft smile on my lips. Gerard just turns and smiles back at me.  
“Sooo,” I look away shyly. “What do you wanna do?”  
“Well, we could read some comics. I got some new ones. Or we could play hide and seek again. Or just vibe together.” Gerard smiles at me.   
“Hmm let's read some comics and then play hide and seek.” I smile up at him.  
“Alright. Move your legs real fast.” Gerard said, putting a hand on my thigh.   
I try and fight the blush rising to my cheeks as I lift up my legs. The second I pull my knees in Gerard is already back with some comics.  
“You can put your legs back.” Gerard says putting a hand on my knee and holding the stack of comics with his other.  
We get settled back into the couch and start to read the comics. Once the sun starts to fade we decide it would be perfect to play hide and seek. I throw on my sweatshirt so I don’t get scraped up while running around the warehouse and can’t help but blush when Gee says it looks cute on me. It does give me an edge to try and hide even better than last time we played. But nothing beats when we played hide and seek at the mall.  
After a few rounds of hide and seek we go back to sitting on the couch together. We end up sitting in the dead center of the couch, incredibly close together. Gerard puts an arm around me casually, as if it's something he’s always done. Which uh duh? This is normal friendship stuff right?  
“So, how long are we staying out here?” I say softly.  
“Hmmm, you need actual sleep don’t you?” Gerard chuckles, I can feel his chest rumble next to me.  
“Well yeah, but like I also have parents who will probably be wondering where the fuck I went.” I laugh, pressing my forehead against his chest.  
Gerard wraps his other arm around me. “You’re right. We’ll head back. Gotta walk aways first too.”   
“You know,” I look up at him. “I think you made us walk cause you just didn’t want to carry me the whole way.” I raise an eyebrow at him.  
“Aaaactually. I just didn’t want you to get super motion sick from me running so fast.” He leaned down pressing his forehead against mine.  
“Fine,” I sigh. “I’ll accept that answer.”   
“Good,” he smiled and tilted his forward as if to kiss me but my phone started ringing and I had to pull away.  
“Shit,” I mumble reading the caller I.D. as my dad.  
“Sorry,” Gerard says quietly as I answer the phone.  
My dad asks me where the hell I am, and I just tell him that I’m hanging with Gerard and I’ll be home in a little. He scolds me for not telling him earlier and just leaving. I roll my eyes, making Gee laugh next to me. I apologize and tell him I’ll be home in a little.   
“Guess your gonna have to drop me off at my front door.” I sigh.  
“That’s not terrible. Plus you didn’t get grounded.” He shrugs.  
“True.” I force myself up and stretch a little from sitting for so long.   
“Well,” Gerard stood up next to me. “Seeing as you need to get home fast, guess I’ll have to run you the whole way there.”  
“You think I’ll be absolutely messed up?” I laughed looking up at him.  
“Nah, you’re a tough girl. Right pumpkin?” He smirked at me.  
“Of course, Boo.” I stuck my tongue out at him.   
He laughed sliding an arm around my shoulder guiding me towards the window.  
“What about your lights?” I asked as we stopped in front of the window.   
“I’ll help you out and then I’ll turn them off.”   
I shrug, “Okay.”   
Next thing he was outside the window, waiting for my hope through. I sat down on the ledge and kicked my legs over to the outside.   
“You ready?” He asked, standing in front of me, hands hovering by my waist.  
“Yeah yeah. It’s not that far off a drop.” I roll my eyes.  
“I had to catch you last time too, remember?” He smirked, placing his hands on my hips.  
“Shut up.” I smile at him, shaking my head slightly. I put my hands on Gerard’s shoulders to lower myself easier.   
Gerard chuckles softly and I slide myself off the ledge. As I slide down Gerard pulls me closer to him to keep me from tripping or losing balance. When my feet finally hit the ground, I was flush against Gerard. Almost as close as we were last weekend in the closet. I looked up at him and knew my face was red and my heart was pounding. He looked down at me, flexing his fingers against my hips. I’m sure I was gripping his shoulders tighter than I needed to. Gerard started to lean down and I couldn’t help but push myself up slightly to meet him.  
BEEP BEEP BEEP!   
We jumped apart as a car alarm went off somewhere in the distance. I awkwardly put my hands in my pockets as Gerard rubbed the back of his neck.   
“I’m, uh, gonna go turn the lights off.”  
“Yeah,” I said quietly, moving away from the window.   
Gerard hoped inside and out in a few seconds, before coming to stand in front of me again. He clears his throat awkwardly.  
“Uh you ready to leave?”   
“Yeah. Everything good?” I look up at him.  
“Yup.” He nods. We stare at each other for a moment before Gerard speaks up again. “Uh time to climb on, spider monkey.” He cracks a smile.  
“This isn’t fucking Twilight, Gee.” I say through laughter.   
Gerard laughs as well before turning around and kneeling down so I can get on. It’s not awkward as I wrap my arms around him. He lifts me up easily and adjusts his hold on me.  
“You ready?” He asks, taking a few steps forward.  
“Yup.” I say popping the p. I close my eyes and can feel him starting to speed up before the wind is rushing past us incredibly fast.  
When we finally stop I notice how dizzy I feel, Gerard was right about me not being able to handle all the running. I took in a few deep breaths as Gerard tapped on my legs signalling to me that I could get down. I slowly untangled my limbs from around him and slid to the ground. But it felt like the ground was moving and I couldn’t see straight. Immediately I leaned over to get myself seated on the ground.   
“Shit! Are you okay?” Gerard crouched in front of me.  
All I could do was nod slightly as I kept my eyes closed and tried to focus on my breathing.   
“I’m so sorry. I definitely ran too fast for you.” Gerard said somewhere in front of me. I feel coolness on my forehead and realize he must be putting his hand there to cool me down.   
“It’s…. It’s okay.” I breath in again before finally opening my eyes once again.   
Gerard moved his hands to my cheeks. “Are you sure? I promise I won't run as fast next time.”  
“Yeah, everything is just, spinning. I’ll be fine.” I give him a weak smile, knowing for a fact if I got up right now I would vomit.  
“Okay, okay. I’m still so sorry.” Gerard leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead. He lets go of my face and sits back down in front of me. “Do you want me to help you to the door. Or do you want to just sit here for a bit.”  
“Umm,” I feel my cheeks heating up. “Let’s just sit for a bit, okay?”  
“Yeah, sure.” Gerard moves over next to me and pulls me slightly. I lean over and rest my head on his shoulder while the world slowly stops spinning around me. Gee wraps an arm around me and everything feels so safe.   
A few minutes go by and I’m feeling well enough to stand but a part of me doesn’t want to leave my place next to Gee. But I know my dad might actually think of grounding me if I take too long.  
“Uhh I should probably head inside now.” I say quietly.  
“Yeah, probably.” Gee responds just as quiet.   
Neither of us move though. A minute goes and I finally take the initiative to get up. Gerard stands next to me making sure I don’t fall over and don’t feel dizzy again. Once we both stand, Gee slides an arm over my shoulders to help me walk to my door. We walk the short way from behind the bushes where we stopped so no one would see him running.   
We stop at the front door and Gerard takes his arm away from me. I turn to look at him in the light from my porch.  
“Today was really fun.” I look down shyly.  
“Yeah, we should. We should do it again sometime.” Gerard smiled at me.  
“Definitely.” I smiled up at him.  
“Cool.” If it was even possible, he smiled wider down at me. “Well, uh.” Gerard leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “I’ll uh see you tomorrow. Yeah?”   
“Umm, yeah.” I looked up at him with a red face and wide eyes.   
“Uh yeah, Night.” Gerard says taking a few steps backward, waving by at me.  
“Night Gee,” I wave back before heading into my home.


	29. Distanced

Monday rolls around and I have not heard from Mikey the whole weekend. He’s probably just been hanging with Pete or Gerard. But it’s weird not getting any texts from him the  _ whole  _ weekend. The car ride to school that morning was only awkward when Gerard and I would stop talking and be left with absolute silence from Mikey. He wouldn’t even pipe in when we were talking about the band they wanted to start. The minute we got to school he ditched us. Gerard and I both agreed he was being odd. 

Even in Math Mikey didn’t look at me or even acknowledge that I was sitting next to him. The teacher had us pair up for some bullshit homework check and he ditched me! I’m furious and I think Mikey can tell but he’s not acknowledging me! The class is over after what feels like hours and we all head out. I decide its now or never to ask that loser what’s up.

“Mikey? Is everything alright?” I ask as we walk to our lockers. I’m trying to be kind but I'm sure my irritation comes through a little. 

“Yeah, just like. You don’t.” Mikey looks down before turning to look at me. “You don’t like Gerard, right?’

“Uh as a friend?” I ask feeling my cheeks heat up despite trying to force them not to and remember that I’m mad at Mikey.

“More than a friend.” Mikey says staring into my eyes.

“No, we’re just friends.” It’s true. We’re just friends. But it’s a lie cause I have a crush on him. FUck.

“Mm,” Mikey turns and opens his locker.

“Why?” I ask, slowly putting in my locker combination.

“Just wondering. It would be weird, don’tcha think?” Mikey says grabbing books and his lunch.

“Yeah, totally. He’s your brother.” I say looking dead into my locker hoping I don’t give myself away.

“Cool, just making sure.” He says flatly before walking away from me.  _ He didn’t even bother to say bye. What is wrong with him? _

I watch him walk away with a look of confusion on my face. I sigh and grab my lunch and head out to the courtyard to meet up with Kristin and my band boys. The rest of the day Mikey was giving me a cold shoulder. Not something I’m used to from my best friend! I’m used to his stoicness and pretending like he doesn’t care but the actual cold shoulder and him ignoring me is new. Even on the ride home he didn’t say anything, to me or Gerard. Gerard definitely knew something was up. We texted about it later but neither of us could figure out why.

~

It’s Wednesday now and Mikey is still being distant. Gerard has not been able to figure out why, even with his super hearing. I guess Mikey isn’t complaining to any of his friends that come over. He still won't talk in the car and just ditches us the minute we get on campus. Math is still deadly silent. Mikey acknowledges me but I can tell something is up. He hasn’t sat with me and Kristin and the boys at lunch. Gerard said he was ditching them too. Music theory was the first time Mikey talked to me since Monday. 

“Hey, Y/n. Are you dating someone?” Mikey asks.

“Uh no why? Did Patrick ask you? Cause I swear,” I start.

“No, no. I was just wondering. It seemed like you were seeing someone.” 

“Oh,” I look up at him. “Nope. Single like usual. I would tell you anyway, Mikey. Ya know, if I  _ was  _ seeing someone.”

“Yeah?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Of course.”

“Alright,” He shrugs before turning back to his notebook. 

I stare at him for a moment. “Are you sure you’re alright dude?”

He glances at me before looking back at his notes. “I’m fine.” 

I look at him in confusion before realizing I will get nowhere with him and look back to my own stuff. Mikey is being cryptic and awful. I don’t understand why he’s being this way. 

The rest of class goes by without either of us talking. I head out on my own and finish up the last of my classes before finally heading to my locker to put my things away.

“Hey Y/n!” I turn and see Frank waving at me, walking up with Ray and Gerard. 

“Sup losers,” I smile at them once they get to me.

“I know that doesn’t include me, nerd.” Frank smirks at me.

I just roll my eyes as Gerard and Ray chuckle to themselves.

“What’s up guys?” I ask, putting my shit away in my locker finally. 

“Welllll, ya know how we have game night sleep overs?” Frank asks, leaning against the locker next to me.

“Yup, and how you guys stopped including me in them after like 8th grade.” I smirk sarcastically at him. While I hear Ray chuckle behind me.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a chick and we wanted boys time.” Frank waves me off.

“Okay then why are you bringing it up?” I throw a hand up in confusion.

“Well,” Ray spoke up before Frank could say anything else. “We wanted you to come to this one. Like old times” Ray smiles sweetly at me.

“Really?” I looked from Ray to Gerard for reassurance.

“Yup,” Gee shrugged. “Figured you should be allowed back into the group senior year.” 

“Oh was this your idea?” I poke Gerard in the chest. “I should be worried then, yeah?” I chuckle smiling. 

“It was all our idea. I mean we talked about it.” Gerard said defensively. 

“Yeah, Ray actually thought of it. Plus Mikey’s been begging for the last year to have you back so we figured why not.” Frank shrugged next to me.

“Hmm I believe the thing about Mikey, I guess.” I narrow my eyes playfully. “So what day is this shindig?” I close my locker before fully turning to the boys again. 

“It’s Friday. So that’s a yes right?” Gerard smiled. 

I look from him to the other boys, Ray smiling at me and Frank pretending to not want me there. “You’re asking me very short notice. I might have plans.” I shrug, looking at them as seriously as I can despite the happiness in me.

“Come on!” Frank whined.

“Yeah you’re only plans would have been with me anyway.” Gerard says before realizing what he said. “Or Mikey or Kristin. You’re definitely free.” He says awkwardly trying to cover up for the fact we actually hang out a lot.

“Please join us,” Ray says sweetly and completely ignoring Gerard’s awkwardness and the look Frank is giving Gerard.

“Anything for you Ray,” I laugh. “Now let's get out of here. Yeah?”

‘That’s rude as fuck,” Frank points at me. “But yeah, I’m so over being in prison.”

“Oh you have no idea what they would do to a guy like you in prison, Frank.” Ray comments chuckling lightly.

“That’s so dark Ray,” I say laughing, surprised by Ray’s comment.

Ray just shrugs. “It’s true. That twink would be demolished.”

This sends Gerard and I into a fit of laughter as we try to make our way out of the school. Frank just yells about not being a twink, he’s just short and how he’s a top or whatever. Which gets Ray laughing along with us and we are in tears by the time we make it down to the cars. We continue poking fun at Frank till Mikey and Kristin arrive and we decide it’s time to finally head out and leave hell.


	30. Game Night

It is finally friday! Ya know what that means? More content? No! It's Game Night! I’m actually really excited to hang out with the boys. I haven’t had a game night with them in a long time, since around the time Gerard stopped talking to me. I made sure after I got dressed that morning to grab a bag and pick some clothes to take over so I wouldn’t feel too panicked after school. But also game night wasn’t going to start till five so I would have plenty of time. I guess I’m just excited. I’m used to sleepovers with Mikey but Gerard is going to actually be involved in the sleep over fun this time soooo obviously I’m nervous.

The boys pick me up for school as usual but with a little extra pep, at least from Gerard. Mikey is still meh. Which is annoying as fuck but I can deal with it.... for now. Gerard and I talked most of English class since we had a substitute today and even he agreed that Mikey was being weird and was starting to get worried. If Gerard wasn’t getting anywhere with Mikey I doubt I would be able to but I still offered to try for Gerard’s sake. 

The rest of the school day went by uneventful and boring which made the fact that tonight was going to be tons of fun even harder to wait for! We all hung out in the parking lot for a bit after school like usual and Kristin seemed really happy that I was joining boys night, even though she wasn’t invited. I went home with the Way’s like usual with a promise to walk over to their place at five. Once inside my house I went up and took a quick shower so I wouldn’t smell awful tomorrow when I woke up with the boys. Then I went and grabbed a pair of black leggings and a long sleeve blue henley to keep warm while inside. Sure the Way’s house was always nice and warm but the weather called for rain that night and I didn’t want to end up freezing later in case the heater decided not to work. Which has happened to us before. 

I crashed on my bed for a little while trying to relax and like power nap I guess? My dad mentioned sleeping for 20 minutes can give you more energy for the rest of your day. But like how in the fuck do you know you’ve only been sleeping for 20 minutes? I set an alarm on my phone and just read some fanfiction and scroll tumblr as I relax. After a while I get back up and put everything I will need tonight in my bag. I double check it so I know I’m not forgetting anything at home before finally grabbing some socks and shoes and heading out the door. 

As I walk to the Way’s house I realize I should have grabbed a jacket instead of just relying on a long sleeve but I’m just hoping the inside of the house will be enough to warm me up. And if worse comes to worse I will use a blanket or ask Gerard for a jacket. And this time I won't take it home with me and never return it. 

I’m of course the first person at the Way’s house but Gerard brings me in out of the cold and gives me a big hug to warm me back up. 

“I’d say you were as cold as death but we both know that should be me.” 

I laugh at Gerard as he pulls away. “Oh definitely, I’m surprised you aren’t colder like in Twilight.” I smirk poking Gerard in the stomach softly.

He glares down at me. “At least I know how to behave around people I like unlike fuckin Edward Cullen.” He rolls his eyes.

I laugh, shaking my head at his antics.

“Hey Y/n,” Mikey says walking down the stairs.  _ What a fuckin surprise he acknowledged my presence. _

“Hey Mikey! You excited for tonight?” I smiled adjusting my bag on my shoulder.

“Yeah,” He says flatly, walking into the kitchen. 

Gerard and I share a look before he guides me down to the basement to throw my stuff down there for the sleepover. We sit on his bed for a bit chatting about comics when Frank comes busting through the door at the top of the stairs.

“Y’all better have clothes on!” He yells bounding down the stairs.

Gerard and I give him a look of ‘what the fuck’ as we sit on opposite sides of his bed.

“Sorry about him, he drank monster before we got here.” Ray said rolling his eyes as he came down the stairs with Mikey behind him.

“Hey! Don’t excuse my behaviour!” Frank says, throwing his bag down and launching himself between Gerard and I onto the mattress. 

I laugh to myself before giving Ray a look but he’s just rolling his eyes at our tiny friend. 

“So what’s the plan losers?” Frank asks, kicking his shoes off and putting his feet on the bed.

“Well I was thinking some video games and then movies, like usual.” Gerard shrugged.

“Sounds good to me dude.” Ray smiled. “I call the couch though.” He turned, dropping his bag and moving quickly to the couch. 

“Wait fuck!” Frank starts to get up but I realize what’s happening a little too late. 

Gerard grabs Frank around the waist. “Y/n, grab the couch and save me a spot.” 

I immediately get up and move away from Frank who’s kicking and trying to break out of Gerard’s grip. Which sucks for him since Gee is a vampire.

“Nooo you fuckers!” Frank yells struggling even more. 

I jump onto the couch next to Ray and kick my feet up next to me to save room for Gerard. Thank god I took my shoes off earlier or Gerard would kill me. Ray and I watch as Frank tries getting up but Gerard shoves him back down onto the bed before sprinting to us and crashing onto the couch and slightly on top of me and Ray.

“Fuck you! Fuck you! And Fuck you!” Frank says pointing at each of us before walking past and plopping down on the bean bag next to Ray. “You all suck balls.”

We all laughed as Frank grumbled and Gerard pulled himself off of us letting me move my legs so he could sit next to me. Mikey comes and sits himself on the pile of cushions Gerard has on the floor. 

“So what game first?” Ray says adjusting himself on the couch and nonchalantly kicking Frank’s bean bag.

“How about smash bros for a bit?” Gerard suggests. I’m not good at it so when the boys realize there are only four controllers I gladly opt out to watch them instead. 

After a while of them yelling and fighting, the pizza finally shows up and Gerard and Ray head up to go get it all. Frank, Mikey and I head up as well to grab drinks for everyone and plates. We sit and chow down on our pizza talking and laughing. 

“Hey where’s the cookies dude? We always have cookies and chips?” Frank says pointing to the pizza box filled table. 

“Oh shit right, it’s in the kitchen. I’ll get it.” 

“What about more drinks?” Ray pipes up as Gerard gets up.

“Right,” He says, shooting a finger gun at Ray.

“Hey, I’ll help you. Thats gonna be a lot to carry.” I say getting up since I was done with eating pizza and wanted cookies myself.

“Cool thanks.” 

We head up the stairs with none of the boys offering to help us get sodas and snacks for them all. What losers. Getting into the kitchen the first thing I do is take down one of the big plastic watermelon bowls to pile the chip bags into.

“Oh shit that’s so smart.” Gerard murmurs as he pulls out sodas from the fridge. 

“Thanks, that’s why I’m here.” I smirk up at him. He just rolls his eyes playfully before bumping his shoulder into mine as he goes into the cabinet leaving the sodas on the counter. 

“What kind of chips we got?” I ask waiting for Gerard to hand me some bags.

“The usually, plus some sunchips for Ray.” He hands my a couple bags and I put them into the bowl before leaning against the counter watching him take out cookies.

“Here, these are for you.” Gerard hands me a package.

My eyes go wide and a smile spreads across my face. “Oreos!”

“Hahaha yup.”

“Just for me?” I smile.

“Yup just for you.”

“Thanks Gee!” I smile grabbing the soda he was handing me. 

“Well, I might want a few too, sooo.” He smirks devilishly. 

“I’m not giving you my oreos.” 

“Come on,  _ Pumpkin _ ,” Gerard says quietly, giving me puppy eyes.

“No. And if anyone hears you call me that I will stab you.” I whisper back to him. 

Gerard chuckles looking down at the soda in his hand. “Okay okay,” He says back normally. 

I laugh softly bumping my shoulder into his arm. “Maybe I’ll share. Just maybe.” I smile up at him. 

“I mean, I am the one who bought them for you.” He tilted his head down to me with his hand still resting on the counter behind me, bringing our faces incredibly close.

“Well, since you got them for me. I guess that means I decide if I share or not hmm?” I smirked tilting my head up at him. 

“That’s so rude.” He smiled leaning closer to me. 

“Hey can you guys grab some extra napkins? Frank fuckin-” Mikey comes around the corner and Gerard and I jump apart. Mikey looks between the two of us. “Are you guys okay?” 

I looked up at Gerard and just knew we both looked frazzled. “Yeah we’re fine. Gee was just trying to steal my oreos.” I spoke waving the package at Mikey.

“Uh-huh.” He raises an eyebrow. We clearly look suspicious but Mikey is keeping whatever thoughts he has about it to himself. “Whatever, just grab some napkins.” 

We watch as Mikey walks away and back to the basement.  _ Fuuuuck.  _ I look up at Gerard awkwardly and he meets my eyes.

“I didn’t hear him walking up,” he presses his lips together with reddening cheeks.

“Maybe he’s just being weird still. Like, we’re just. Acting like friends. Right?” I say looking at the doorway before looking back at him.

“Uh yeah, right. Nothing weird about being friends.” He rubs the back of his neck before turning away from me.

“Yeah.” we stand there in awkward silence for a bit. “Um we should grab the napkins and stuff,” I say finally. 

“Oh yeah, right.” He shifts his weight before stepping in front of me to grab the napkins off the table. I take my soda and oreos in one arm as best I can before grabbing the bowl with the chip bags. Gerard grabs some cookie packages in one arm and the sodas in his other before we both head down to his room in silence. 

“There you two are! Done making out already?” Frank yells as we walk down the stairs.

“We weren’t making out Frank,” Gerard grumbles.

“You guys could have helped us, ya know.” I say reaching the bottom of the stairs.

“Nah, it’s more fun to watch you suffer.” Frank smirks taking a pack of chocolate chip cookies from Gerard.

“Oh you got sunchips!” Ray exclaims as I put the chips down on the table.

“Just for you, my  _ Ray  _ of sunshine.” I smirk throwing a finger gun at him with my free hand. 

Ray just groans, plopping himself down on the couch as Frank and Gee laugh. 

“Hey I could have made a pun with the sunchips and your name! You’re lucky I didn’t,” I push the food away from the edge of the table and place my soda down before sitting down on the couch next to Gee. I’m just about to open my oreos when Frank hands me a controller. 

“I’m gonna beat your ass on rainbow road this time, y/n/n” Frank says plopping down on the beanbag. 

“In your dreams, shorty,” I smirk putting my oreos in my lap before leaning back against the couch. Then Gerard moves his arm from the couch and rests it around my shoulders.  _ It’s a friend thing, don’t let it go to your head. _ I fight the butterflies in my stomach as Mario Kart begins to load up the character selection page.

“Ray you better not take Princess Daisy from me!” I say moving my icon to grab her.

“As if, I’m using dry bones and I will beat all of you.” Ray chuckles next to me. 

“Good luck with  _ that,  _ cupcake hands!” Frank says grabbing Mario as his character. Ray scoffed and kicked Franks bean bag while Gerard chuckled next to me. Mikey picked Boo and we were ready to pick our vehicles. 

“Mikey I thought you were gonna grab Peach?” I asked looking down at Mikey where he sat on the floor.

“Decided not to this time,” He kept his eyes on the tv. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought Mikey was being weird.  _ Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for me to join their game night.  _ I glance up at Gerard and he just gives me an apologetic smile.    
“So what courses should we do? Ya know,  _ other  _ than Rainbow Road.” Frank smiles at us all.

“What you could put it on random. Ya know, make it fair.” Ray says tilting his head to look at Frank better.

“That’s so boring!” Frank groans, throwing his head back into the beanbag.

“Eh but it’s fair. So might as well.” I smiled sweetly at him.

“Ughhh fine!” Frank whined but picked random for the courses anyway. 

~~

“Ohhh! You all should have seen that coming!” I said victoriously, waving my controller in the air.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” Frank dropped his controller in his lap as he sunk into the beanbag.

“I can. You forget she used to play against Gee all the time.” Ray said slouching against the couch in defeat. 

“I’m so fucking good.” I smirk to myself.

“Yeah, but I’m still better than you at Mario Kart.” Gerard spoke squeezing my shoulder.

“Excuse me? I can beat your ass at this game and you know it.” I turned slightly to look at him better.

“You wanna bet? Let’s go, loser has to be the winner’s servant for the rest of the night. ” Gerard smirked down at me.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” I sassed, narrowing my eyes at Gee.

“Ughh I’m out of here.” Mikey dropped the controller on the floor and got up heading to the stairs.

“What? Mikey what’s wrong?” Gerard asked looking after his brother.

“Whatever.” 

“Mikey!” I called after him. “I’ll see what’s wrong.” I put a hand on Gerard’s shoulder before getting up off the couch leaving my warm place next to him. 

“Good luck,” Ray said quietly as I headed up the stairs to the main floor before heading up again to Mikey’s bedroom door.

I knocked on his door. “Mikey?”

“Go away. I  **don’t** want to talk to  _ you _ ” He said from the other side of the door. 

I opened his door and looked at him, “What is that supposed to mean? Did I do something wrong?” 

“Yeah you did, so go away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all have no idea where this story is going at this point. and im actually upset with myself for making this story go the way its going cause i hate angst!! and just want mutual pinning but.. alas. we have an evil vampire to meet still :c


	31. Yikes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the entirety of chapter 16 was going to be from Mikey’s pov and be about his feelings. But I scraped it because Mikey was being a little bitch to write back then anyway. So plz enjoy the argument of two dumbasses who can’t communicate very well. 
> 
> TW: slightest slut shame sentence?? I'm putting the warning just in case some of you don’t want to read that or need to be prepared. It's legit one line and not super bad, but still.

“Mikey why are you so mad at me?” I raised my voice at him. We were in his room so I didn’t worry about the boys down stairs hearing any noise but Gerard could probably hear it which is not something I’m really thinking too hard about.

“I’m not mad! I’m just,” Mikey turned away and ran his hand through his hair. “What are you always doing with my brother?” 

“Liar you are fucking mad. Besides Gee and I just hang out. I thought you wanted us to be friends?!”  _ I don’t understand where this is coming from? Ughh! _

“I want you to be friends! I don’t want you to date him!” Mikey yells at me. I blink at him. 

“What?” I say. 

“You heard me!”

“You think I’m dating Gerard!” I yell in shock, stepping closer to him a bit. 

“Why the fuck else would you two be so close nowadays?”

“Maybe cause you’ve been hanging out with other friends. It feels like you don’t have time for me anymore.”

“I’ve been hanging out with other people because  _ you’re  _ always with Gerard now!  **You** never have time for me!” Mikey paced his room.

“I thought  _ you _ wanted some space,” I crossed my arms.  _ This argument is getting us nowhere because I have to lie to his face except not about the dating thing cause we really aren’t dating ughhhh. _

“I  _ wanted  _ my brother and my best friend to get along! Not be sneaking around all the time and hanging out without me!” He steps closer to me. “I especially didn’t want you two to be in a fuckin relationship you wont even tell me about.” He stood glaring down at me. 

“We aren’t  **dating** ,” I say sternly. 

“Liar. And you're not even gonna  _ bother  _ to cover up the fact you two have been hanging out without me?” he throws his arms in the air. “Plus you’ve had his sweatshirt for like two  _ fucking _ months now that’s how I figured it out!” He says looking anywhere but at me.

“What, what are you talking about?  _ His  _ sweatshirt?!”  _ Oh fuck. _

“You were literally wearing it the night of our shit talk sleepover back in fucking August! The maroon one? And don’t even pretend you haven’t been wearing it ever since.” 

“Yeah cause I-I spilled on my shirt that night. And, and Gee gave me one of his to wear while mine was in, in the wash” I said, trying to remember the lie we came up with in case Mikey did recognize the sweatshirt that night nearly two months ago. My face probably giving away that I was lying.

“Really? Then why did you keep it if you two aren’t together?” Mikey crossed his arms as if he just won.

“We’re not together.”

“Fucking bullshit! I  _ heard  _ him calling you Pumpkin! Not to mention the cuddling downstairs just now? And what ever the fuck kind of flirting you two were doing in the kitchen and on the couch in front of literally everyone! Y/n at least be fucking honest with me!” 

“I am being honest! We aren’t dating!” 

“No you’re  **not** ! I don’t care if you're fucking my brother just tell me about it!” It felt like everything just stopped in that moment. I looked at Mikey in shock and he started to realize exactly what he said. The anger and shame and sadness felt overwhelming and I turned leaving his room as fast as I could.

“Y/n!” Mikey shouts at me but I ignore him and head downstairs. I could feel the tears start to prick my eyes as I reached the bottom, I headed straight for the door ignoring Mikey rushing down the stairs behind me.

“Y/n, wait.” Gerard says walking from the hallway.  _ He definitely heard all of that argument. I can’t even look at him. _

“I’m fine. I’m going home.” I say opening the front door but Mikey grabs my arm.

“Y/n please. I’m sorry I didn’t mean-”

“Mikey.” I look at him, I know my eyes are red. I know I’m about to cry. “You're not the only one with a crush around here that isn’t going to act on it.” I pull my arm from him and close the door behind me as the tears start falling down my face. I walk home in the rain. You can’t even tell I’m crying.  _ I haven’t told anyone about my crush on Gerard. I wasn’t even planning to, especially not planning to tell Mikey. Fuck. I said it in front of Gerard. Fuck.  _ I open the front door and head straight to my room, thank god my parents are out to dinner. I know I should shower and get out of these wet clothes but I just lean against my door and cry on the floor instead. 

After who knows how long I force myself to get up and grab warm pajamas and head to my shower. I stand under the heat of the shower for a while. The heat just makes everything seem not as bad. But the water starts to cool after a while and it's time to get out. I pull on my pajamas and when I look in the mirror I notice the sweatshirt I grabbed was Gerard’s maroon one. The one he gave me two months ago when we first started our friendship. I sigh and leave the bathroom going back to my room when I notice my lights are now on. I breathe in deeply and open my door.

But Gerard’s not there. I look around the room and there’s no sign he was even here except for my twinkle lights being on and my sleepover bag is now on my chair. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding and head to my bed. I reach for the covers and notice a note on my pillow. I pull the sheets down and grab the note before getting into my bed.  _ Maybe I should just leave it and read it tomorrow. I don’t want to feel worse than I already do right now.  _ I go to set it on the side table but think better of it. 

‘Y/N,

I know it's not my place but Mikey feels really bad about what happened between you two in his room. He locked himself in his room and refused to hang out with us. He even refused to talk to me about it. 

I know you guys will talk it through and be close like always. You guys are best friends, you always make up. 

If you want to talk about it, you can always call me.

Gee’

  
I put the note down on my bedside table.  _ I don’t feel worse thankfully but I don’t feel better either. Does this mean Gerard didn’t hear the argument or is he willfully ignoring it. _ I get further under the blankets and try to sleep, leaving my twinkle lights on. 


	32. Double Yikes

I wake up late the next day, my eyes hurt from crying and my heart hurts from Mikey. And Gerard. I look out my window and it's still nice and cloudy outside, just no more rain which is sad. I reach my hand over and turn off my lights before getting up out of bed.  _ It’s Saturday which means Gerard is working later at the record store, so heading to a bookstore or the comic shop will be fine. _ I head to my closet and grab a pair of skinny jeans and change out of my pj pants but as I look in the mirror I can’t bring myself to change my shirt just yet. So I tuck  _ his  _ sweatshirt into my jeans and grab a belt to make it fashionable. 

I grab socks for my converse down stairs along with my wallet and head to the kitchen. My dad is asleep on the couch and my mom is probably in her office. I grab a granola bar and pour some juice. I just feel out of place right now, too many emotions happened last night. Once I’m finished I pull my shoes on, grab my house key and head out the door. I go to the local bookstore that is about a 15 minute walk from my house and is nowhere near the record store. I don’t think I can look at Gerard right now.  _ I mean sure I didn’t tell him outright I have a crush on him but, god, I think it was really obvious. Especially after my dumb comment last week at the Batcave. The boys probably figured it out too if Gerard mentioned anything of our argument. Mikey knows now. Everything just kind of feels like hot garbage and I don’t want to deal with talking to anyone. _

I make my way to the little book store hoping to spend a few hours just alone. I enter the shop and browse around looking for something good to sit and read and take me out of today. So I find a copy of  _ Alice in Wonderland _ and head to grab a seat on the little indoor balcony on the second floor. I sink into the plush seat and start reading. 

~

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” I look up at the voice, it's a cute boy hopefully around my age with grey blue hair and icy blue eyes. 

“Uhh no, it's not.” I say, I’m about halfway through the book at this point almost to the Looking Glass part of the book. 

“Awesome,” He says taking a seat next to me. I take a moment to take in his look. He’s got on dark jeans and a pink floyd shirt on, his blue hair is in some hipster haircut and his jeans are cuffed at the bottom. 

I look back down at my book.  _ Why the fuck did this hot guy sit next to me? Like what is the point? _

“Nice book choice,” he says settling into the chair.

“Thanks,” I responded shortly only because boys aren’t trustworthy at this age and he looks like a bit of a fuckboy. 

“I think the Tim Burton movie was better than the disney animated one. Tim Burton is a genius.” He smiles, showing off his perfect teeth.

I raise an eyebrow,  _ alright fuck boy has taste.  _ “Tim Burton is in fact a creative genius. Although the live action movie is very cartoony in its own way.” 

“That’s so true, I can never get over Helena Boham Carter with a giant head like that.” He laughs. “I’m Dominic, by the way.” He reaches a hand out to me.

“I’m Y/n.” I shake his hand gently. Don’t wanna get fuckboy germs. 

“That’s a nice name. I definitely thought it was going to be something more witchy though. I feel like you put a spell on me.” he gives me a charming smile and a wink. Considering how shitty I felt this morning, his what would be lame attempt at flirting is actually pretty clever and sends a blush to my cheeks. 

“But I assume a pretty girl like you already has a boyfriend yeah?” He gives me a sad smile.

“Uh no, I don’t.”  _ Why the fuck did I just say that? I like Gerard even if he doesn’t like me back. What the fuck made me admit to not having a boyfriend?  _

“Oh, that’s a shame.” He looked down then back to me. “Would it be too forward of me to ask you out to coffee?”

“No that would be fine, I think.”  _ Um excuse? Why am I agreeing to this? What the heck. I’m sad not desperate. But who knows… maybe a bit of attention could cheer me up. I guess… _

His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face, “Oh great! Would now be a good time or later. I can wait for you to finish reading if you want.” Whatever about him screamed ‘fuckboy’ seemed to melt away and be replaced with a puppy like innocence. 

“Oh uh, we could go now. I’ve already read this book a bunch.” I smile shyly at him.  _ Time to treat myself to coffee and compliments! _

“Wonderful!” He got up reaching a hand out to me. I took it and stood but he didn’t let go once I stood up. A bit weird but he’s kind of like a puppy so I guess it’s okay. “There’s a cute coffee shop around the corner we could go to.”

“Uh yeah sure. Let me just put this book back first.” I said showing him the Alice in Wonderland book still in my hand.

“Oh let me put that away for you,” He smiles down to me a little too wide before taking the book out of my hand and disappearing from the balcony. 

I wait a moment looking around.  _ Wow. uhh a date? Really Y/n? So fast after you argue with your best friend and get accused of sleeping with his brother. And then ya know admitting you had a crush you weren’t gonna do anything about anyway? I guess a pity date is fine, even though its self pity and not him pitying me. Wait am I gonna break this dudes heart? Just cause my heart hurts?? Oh geez thats shitty of me.  _

“Hey, I’m back. Let’s go get that coffee yeah?” Dominic said, taking my hand in his immediately. 

“Oh cool, yeah let’s go.”  _ Maybe it's not shitty of me. I mean he is cute and nice. Maybe this is fine? _

“Wonderful, baby doll.” 

My face scrunched up slightly at the new nickname.  _ Wasn’t expecting him to say anything like that. Umm not sure how I feel about that. _ “Uh, yeah.” 

He seemed to not notice my reaction or at least ignored it. He squeezed my hand softly as we left the second story. It felt kind of nice to receive affection so publicly but also so odd because this isn’t Gerard. 

~

We sit together at Starbucks a few doors down from the book store and just talk. Getting to know you question but also just talking about our lives. Dominic’s been on his own for a while and misses his friends and family but he knows he’s better off without them. He keeps calling me baby doll, but it’s not bothering me as much now as it did earlier. Especially after we started getting into the heavy things going on in our lives. He told me about how his family disowned him and that they see him as a monster because he chose to change his diet and be an omnivore instead of a vegetarian. Seems pretty harsh to me, it’s just food. It doesn’t justify seeing someone as a monster just because of what they eat. 

After unloading onto Dominic some of what happened with Mikey and I, he offered to be my ride to school for the week. Which is surprisingly kind of him especially considering we just met, but it feels right so who am I to argue his kindness. Especially because this makes it easier for me to avoid Gerard too. He didn’t seem to mind too much about the ‘me having a crush on someone else’ either. Maybe he’s lonely like I am and just looking for company. 


	33. 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next few of your chapters are in 2nd person including this one.  
> it's a thing. lemme know if you figure out why.

Don’t you love that your last coherent thought was thinking some boy was lonely like you? Well after that actually very cute coffee date that is all a blur by now Dominic walked you home with the promise of taking you to school today, which is Monday.  _ He was very sweet with his goodbye and even kissed your cheek.  _

~

You woke up Monday with a headache and feeling out of place. Your room seemed like it wasn’t yours but you knew everything was where it should be. Everything felt off but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. You got up and got ready for school as usual. It’s October now so it's best to dress for cooler weather, that means pants, band shirt and a jacket with your favorite pair of vans to complete the look. You went downstairs to grab breakfast before scrolling through your phone.  _ No one had texted you since Friday, not even Mikey had reached out to you to try and patch things up. Gerard hadn’t texted either. Well he hadn’t texted you but you had texted him saying that you had a ride to school for the week and you weren’t carpooling. He didn’t respond to that. He definitely feels weird and knows about the crush you have on him, doesn’t he?  _

_ Guess it is for the best Dominic is taking you to school this week. _ You grab some snacks and pack a lunch just in time to hear an unfamiliar honk outside. You make sure you have everything before heading out to see Dominic’s black car. It’s not very fancy but it does look quite nice,  _ much better than Gerard’s beat up hand me down.  _

“Good morning, baby doll.” Dominic said as you climbed into his car. 

“Hey,” you spoke, taking in the clean car before buckling in. 

“You sure you wanna go to school today? We could always just hang out.” He spoke reaching over and taking your hand in his.

“Yeah, I mean I can just avoid the boys the best I can. I’m not a coward.” You said squeezing his hand before letting go. 

“Good to know, Doll.” He smiled down at you before putting the car in drive and heading to your high school.

The ride wasn’t awkward, just silent. The only sound being that of some indie band coming over the speakers. Nothing you liked or had listened to before, if anything that made you feel even more distant from your friends. Things were a blur after Saturday and staring out the window made it feel like life in general was just a blur. You came up to the school pretty fast, or maybe it just felt fast. Considering the weird music and no conversation the ride should have felt a lot longer. 

Dominic pulled into the parking lot and you could see Gerard and Mikey getting out of their car. Dominic thankfully must have sensed your discomfort and just pulled up to the stairs to drop you off.

“I hope today goes well. If you want me to pick you up early I can totally do that.” He smiled at you sweetly. 

“Thanks, I think I’ll be fine.” You gave him a small smile. “Thank you for taking me to school. I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

“Of course Doll,” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to your cheek. “I’ll see you after school.” 

You smiled at him before opening the door. “Thanks, see you later.” You grabbed your backpack and closed the door waving to Dominic before practically booking it into the school. You wanted to put as much space between you and the boys as possible. It would be hard avoiding them when your locker is right next to theirs. But considering they were still down at the cars you were able to grab the next few classes worth of books so you wouldn’t need to stop there the same time Ray will or Mikey. 

You took your stuff and got to your English class well before the bell and grabbed a seat in the back corner opposite of where you usually sat next to Gerard. Thank god most of your classes didn’t have assigned seats. But it made it worse because then the boys would know you were avoiding them.  _ I mean why wouldn’t you? You’re hurt after that argument and no one even tried to reach out to you after that. Some friends they are.  _

You sat in the back and waited for class to start by playing games on your phone or scrolling tumblr. Not much to do when you’re avoiding the people you like. Gerard must have walked in and noticed at some point because when the bell rang and you finally looked up from your phone Gerard had his head down and was sitting where he always does. 

The rest of class went by slowly but the minute the bell rang you practically sprinted out of the classroom to avoid Gerard. Sure he could catch up to you if he wanted too, but he’s giving you space or _ just doesn’t care at this point _ . In the next class that you had with Ray and Pete you figured since this teacher talks the whole time anyway they wouldn’t really notice you trying to ignore them. It kind of worked. It was easy for you to tell that Ray noticed something was up but Pete just talked and talked and noticed nothing was wrong with you. When class finished you went to your locker alone and traded out books ignoring the feeling of someone watching you. 

Choir was easy, especially considering Gerard was in a completely different section than you. Math was harder. No way to find a new seat when you got there because the choir room was so far from this one that there were only two seats left. Either you sit next to Mikey and ignore him or you can sit near Dickie the Jock who hits on literally anyone that breathes. Considering you already have a cute boy hitting on you, you elect to sit next to Mikey and ignore him _. He doesn’t try to reach out to you either. Well he does one time but the teacher absolutely threatened him with detention and he didn’t try to talk to you again.  _

Leaving Math you did what you had done early and just booked it, being one of the first few people out of the room. You got to your locker, grabbed lunch and left not bothering to grab anything for after lunch. You just needed to get out of there before any of the boys showed up.  _ Heck you didn’t even go to see your boys and Kristin for lunch. You absolutely left everyone _ and hid under a try by the P.E. yard where you know none of your friends would even think to look for you. 

The rest of the day went with you sitting as far from Mikey as possible in your music theory class and then being alone in your mythology class since all your friends had band together.  _ It was nice finally having a class to yourself where you didn’t need to worry about one of your friends trying to figure out what was wrong. You’re hurting and as good as a hug from Kristin or Patrick would be, it was better to just keep your thoughts to yourself for a while and be alone.  _

You walked to your locker during your last class so you wouldn’t have to see Gerard or Mikey or any of the boys at your locker after school. Once the bell rang you headed straight out of the school and to the parking lot. You could hear Mikey calling after you but you ignored him and headed to Dominic’s black car that was waiting there for you. He stood at the passenger side and immediately perked up the moment he saw you. Dominic waved at you and opened the car door as you approached. 

“Hey,” You said going into his open arms and giving him a hug.

“How was school Doll?” He hugged you back. 

“Okay I guess. Can we just go?” You said pulling away trying not to look back at Mikey who you knew was probably staring at you.

“Of course. I’m guessing the tall boy with the glasses and the dark haired boy are your friends?” He nodded his head back towards the steps. 

You paused after throwing your backpack in his car and turned to look. There Mikey and Gerard stood watching as you went home with a random boy they didn’t know. “Yeah,” you said quietly getting into his car.

Dominic closed the passenger door before walking over to the drivers side and getting in. “Don’t worry, Doll. I’m sure things will work out eventually.” He placed a hand on your thigh and squeezed it reassuringly before turning the car on and pulling out of the school. 

Dominic took you home and you both hung out in your living room for a while since your parents weren’t home. You talked a little but mostly just watch some Supernatural reruns since the newer seasons scare you. Not the content or anything just… there’s a lot of new stuff happening since you last binged up to season 7. You were told it goes downhill from there so you haven’t tried to watch it again since summer. Dominic kept an arm slung around your shoulders on the couch which was  _ oddly comforting considering the circumstances. He was a perfect gentleman and didn’t try anything which was a great change of pace from most boys your age. _

After sometime you suggest Dominic go home so your parents didn’t question why there was a random boy they didn’t know in the house… with you… alone. Dominic was  _ very understanding and offered to take you to school again the next day and for however long you would like till you felt better. _ You accepted the offer with a hug of gratitude and walked him to the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow baby doll.” He said, stepping away from you. 

“See you!” You waved at him, watching him walk to his car. Once he got in you headed back into your house and headed up to your room to get homework done. That’s how the rest of the week went too. Dominic taking you to school and bringing you home. Then you two hung out for a while, watching tv  _ or just talking and getting close.  _

_ Thursday had a bit of a hiccup with Gerard trying to talk to you but you ignored him. Its too early to even bother trying to talk to your friends.  _ Then Friday rolled around and Dominic decided that you two should go out to dinner instead of just staying in your home again. So once school gets out for the day Dominic picked you up as usual and dropped you off at home  _ so you could change into something cute before dinner. _

You went upstairs and too _ k a shower to be all clean from icky school _ and did some makeup  _ before hunting down a cute outfit in your room _ . You dug through your closet before settling on a long sleeve Wednesday Addams looking dress that was a dark velvet green instead of black. It was perfect considering the slowly changing fall weather. It made your eyes stand out especially with the bit of makeup you put on. Once you were all ready you grabbed black heeled boots that you laced up while you waited downstairs at the kitchen table for Dominic to come pick you up.

After a short time Dominic rolled up to your house and picked you up in his shiny black car. Who even knows what kind of car it is, probably something expensive but not too new ya know? He took you out to a nice Italian restaurant on the upper side of town where the richer people live. It was a sweet date filled with _ lots of laughs and flirting. It felt like a perfect first date _ . He picked up the check which wasn’t too bad but still a shocker since the restaurant is so up scale.  _ He must be really trying to impress you. _ Afterwards you guys walked around before he finally took you home.

_ Being the gentleman he was,  _ Dominic walked you up to the door and stopped there with you looking down at you. His eyes look like an almost darker shade of warm brown as he smiles down at you. Weird. You could have sworn his eyes were blue.  _ Of course they’re blue! It must have been a trick of the lighting _ . Dominic leans down and presses a kiss to your cheek before pulling away and smiling, dark blue eyes meeting your own sparkly ones. 

“Was that okay?” He asked quietly looking into your eyes.

“Yeah, it was.” You gave him a small smile with a slight blush on your cheeks. 

“Good, maybe I could move a little closer this time?” He leaned down with a crooked smile, his nose brushed yours but he didn’t move any closer.

You looked into his dark eyes before whispering out a small uh-huh before leaning in slightly yourself. Dominic closed the rest of the space and pressed his lips firmly against yours. The kiss was dull  _ at first! Then it turned magical with sparks and fireworks just like the movies! _

He pulled away after a second brushing some loose hair away from your face. “Good night, doll.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to your cheek again.

“Night Dominic.” You waved to him as he walked to his car before entering your house and  _ smiling like an idiot as you _ walked up to your bedroom. Things are  _ beginning to look up again. Aren’t they? _


End file.
